I knew we are a Republic (because of the Pledge of Allegiance)  but when the fuck did we become a democracy?  I just learned the difference

8th grade US History FTMFW !!

Yeah I kind of skipped class a lot

If you're from my generation you didn't skip, they just didn't allow it.

<------not a political science major (or minor) but isn't a republic the type of democracy that America is?

We vote (democracy) for our political leaders, but the way that we allow the vote is the republic side of democracy.

Many people are confused because of our democratic elections.

"Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious."

a republic and a democracy are complete opposites

a republic has a constitution with distributed power and checks and balances, and recognizes the rights of the individual

a democracy is simply mob rule

Sadly we no longer have that.

Don't fall for the arfcom hive mind bullshit.

I'd like to think that we're a constitutional republic.



 

Yeah, no shit...

The labels don't mean anything anymore

Well...we're not SUPPOSED to be a democracy...but we're getting pretty damned close to one.

This.
ETA: By design, but unfortunately not always in practice.

except that we don't have any form of democracy

a republic and democracy are opposites

representative democracy.

We got an hour's worth of detention if we skipped a class .....skip the detention ,  a day's suspension from school . Not that many skips then compared to what happens now

I hated school , couldnt stand many of the classes , but history always interested me to the point where Id actually pay attention and pass the exams.



 

US Representative have always been elected by the citizens to represent them in Congress.
Once upon a time, US Senators were chosen by the State to represent the State in Congress.
That changed 100 years ago when the 17th amendment was ratified. Since that change the US can properly be called a democracy. Not coincidently, since that time the US Government has expanded beyond the limits set forth in the Constitution.

Glad you posted this because I've been posting it for years.  The only thing in our country that still resembles a true republic is our judicial system.  And by that I mean the trial by jury aspect of it.

In a true republic, the rule is by the people.  This means that everything is brought before the people and the decision must be unanimous in order for it to pass.  This involves compromise and teamwork.  In the end, if someone is getting screwed then the law doesn't pass.

In a democracy the rule is by the majority of the people.  Things are brought to vote and if you can get 51% of the vote then the other 49% percent get screwed and the law passes.  This involves NO compromise and NO teamwork - just a majority vote.

The Old Republican party held to the beliefs of a true republic and wanted to CONSERVE it, hence a conservative.  Then the Democratic Republic party came along and promised that a democracy was the same thing only it would LIBERATE us from the constraints of the unanimous decision, hence liberals.

People like free shit and that is what the liberals promise.  It is easy to win over a majority when you promise free shit.  So the liberals will eventually give away so much free shit that at least 51% will always vote for them.

The only thing in the USA that still clings to the old republic is our trial by jury, which requires a unanimous decision to convict.  But we're getting rid of that shit as well.  Can anyone say indefinite detention!

tag for interest.

seriously guys, this is not complicated, just google it

a lot of stuff being written into this thread is flat wrong or imaginary

In the beginning there were no parties and this country was a republic.  The the democratic republican party came along and eventually became today's democratic party.

Republicans slowly slid towards center while democrats slid further towards communism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_parties_in_the_United_States



In January 1776, just as it became clear in the colonies that the king was not inclined to act as a conciliator, Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense was published.[21] Paine, who had only recently arrived in the colonies from England, argued in favor of colonial independence, advocating republicanism as an alternative to monarchy and hereditary rule.[22] Common Sense introduced no new ideas,[23] and probably had little direct effect on Congress's thinking about independence; its importance was in stimulating public debate on a topic that few had previously dared to openly discuss.[24] Public support for separation from Great Britain steadily increased after the publication of Paine's enormously popular pamphlet.[25]