Republicans have a longstanding disdain for "democracy," instead referring to U.S. as a "republic".

[Aristus]

5. That's it exactly; they want their party name to have some kind of word-recognition

with respect to what is and is not American.

Both party names are essentially meaningless, and exist simply because political parties have to have names.

But the Republicans, as boneheadedly stupid as they always are, try to insist that the USA is a republic (think Republican), not a democracy (think Democratic).

The truth is, we are a democratic republic. We are governed by elected officials chosen through popular vote by the citizens.

It's possible to be a democracy but not a republic; the UK comes to mind as an example.

It's possible to be a republic but not a democracy; pre-Imperial Rome, for example.

We're both. And the republicans need to stop spewing this stupid talking point.