Wouldn't it be nice to have a REAL American Spring,

[merrily]

23. Democracy is citizens voting on things like war, the national budget, etc. as in Ancient Athens.

What we have is a republic, as Ancient Rome, where Senators voted on things, as a check on the emperor.

The PTB in 1789 were scared of the people. That's why they wrote the Constitution as they did. Over time, it's been improved some, but we are still a republic. We are not now, nor have we ever been, a democracy.

We do now (in theory) choose the Senators and the Representatives democratically, in that, now, most adult citizens have a right to vote. However, between the money men, the "two"-party system, the RNC and the DNC recruiting people to run and supporting only their picks, etc. our ability even to choose our alleged representatives is becoming less and less of a reality.

In reality, we have become a plutonomy, in which the economy runs the nation for the benefit of the wealthy and the form of government is not really that significant, or, at best, a plutocracy.