Glossary: republic

Republic is a Latin word meaning "rule of elected representatives".

This is different than a democracy, in which the people rule themselves directly, without intervening representatives. The United States and all other advanced industrial countries are in fact Republics, ruled by representatives, not Democracies, ruled directly by the people. This distinction is important.

In theory, representatives do the people's bidding. In practice, they're beholden to special interests who provide campaign funding; they're susceptible to backroom dealmaking; and they cast their votes under the shadow of behind-the-scenes influences. (There are 90,000 lobbyists in Washington D.C. today.) That these practices undercut popular rule should be obvious.

Republics in modern societies have tended to be extremely corrupt. The votes of elected representatives are easily bought, so that modern politicians are typically intensely mistrusted by the people who elect them.

Mechanisms do exist which attempt to ameliorate this tendency to abuse. For instance, representatives can be required to vote their mandates, not, as they're free to do in the U.S., their "consciences". Representatives can be elected by party, as they are in Israel and other parliamentary systems, rather than as individuals. The electoral system can make it easy to recall representatives, as California law attempts, unsuccessfully of course. None of these palliatives are especially successful. The Republican form of government by nature is prone to backroom manipulation. Perhaps a political system in which the people govern themselves directly might prove to be an improvement.