Like Robert Reich just said on Facebook

[merrily]

152. I leave Fox news to those who seem to need the comfort of delusions and illusions.

Last edited Wed Nov 5, 2014, 05:30 PM - Edit history (1)

The very definition of democracy is that citizens do not have representatives, but vote themselves, directly, on matters like war and taxes as in Ancient Athens.

The very definition of "republic" is that citizens (however one defines that term) do choose "representatives" who then vote on matters like taxes and wars, while citizens do not. (Whether those called "representatives" actually represent their constituents' wishes or not is irrelevant in the model. ) That was the form of government in Ancient Rome for a time.

The Framers looked at those two models and chose that of Ancient Rome. They did not trust the rabble. That is why the Senate, which they conceived as a body elected by state legislatures, has more power than "the People's House."

Because people love to believe that they do live in a democracy, and politicians love to have them believe that, over time, they've invented truthy terms to make our system sound more democratic-ish, an illusion politicians nurture.

This is supposedly the definition of a "democratic republic."

A democratic republic is, strictly speaking, a country that is both a republic and a democracy. It is one where ultimate authority and power is derived from the citizens, and the government itself is run through elected officials.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_republic#Current_countries_self-described_as_democratic_republics

Problem is, there is zero, I repeat, zero, difference between that allegedly technical definition of a "democratic republic" and the definition of a "republic." It's truthy. Also, FWIW,, per that wiki, the USA is not among the nations that self-describes as a "democratic republic."

The above reply is not for you, but for whoever else may choose to read it.

This part is for you though. I never said anything about democracies and republics being a a contradiction in terms. I don't say apples and oranges are a contradiction in terms either. Makes no sense. I simply call apples apples and oranges oranges. Similarly, a democracy and a republic are simply two different things, so I call each what it is.. Has nothing to do with a contradiction in terms. Technically, however, the term that you prefer, "representative democracy," is an oxymoron. You either vote yourself on matters, no representatives involved, or you vote to choose representatives who then vote on matters (or gridlock them). In the USA and other modern nations, citizens choose representatives.