Comments by "Philip Rayment" (@PJRayment) on "The Difference Between a Democracy and a Republic | 5 Minute Video" video.

  1. I've often heard Americans claim that America is a republic, not a democracy, but with one exception, none of those people could justify the claim, and that one exception essentially said that the claim is really referring to it not being a pure democracy. Much of this comes down to definitions, it seems to me. Even after watching this video, I think it's fair to say that America is a democracy, but a particular type of democracy. More precisely, it's a representative democracy, and even a particular type of representative democracy. It's interesting to compare this to Australia, which is similar in some ways but also different in some. Like America, Australia is a federation of what were British colonies, but unlike America, it became independent peaceably, with the consent of the British government. Australia's constitution was originally an act of the British parliament. However, it seems to me that Australia's constitution was influenced by the American one. Just comparing the references to no religious test, etc. you'll find very similar wording. Like Britain and America, it has a bicameral government. Like America, representatives of the lower house are proportional to the population of the states. Like America, the states all have equal representation in the upper house (also called the Senate). However, unlike America, we do not have an elected president. That non-political role is fulfilled by the Governor General, representing Australia's Queen, Queen Elizabeth. (The GG is appointed by the queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister). Therefore there is no equivalent of the Electoral College. One common way of describing Australia's system is a representative democracy. It's also described as a constitutional monarchy. There are some who would like to make it a 'republic', i.e. to replace the queen's representative with an president, although there is no agreement on how that person would be elected. So in some ways Australia's system is very much like America's, but it's never called a republic, despite this video indicating that some of the things that make America a republic are also things found in the Australian system.
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  2. A democracy can end up as a dictatorship, as in the case of Hitler. But that doesn't mean that it will. But what this video describes as being republic rather than democracy is actually the same in Australia, except for the bits about the president. Neither are pure (or direct) democracies, and both are representative democracies.
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  3. "A democracy and a republic are literally the same thing" No, they are not. There are different forms of democracy, including a pure or direct democracy, and a representative democracy. Both Australia and America are representative democracies. But of the two, only America is a republic. Democracy and republic are not synonymous.
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  4. Interesting comments, fumoffuyou. I've just posted my own comment comparing America's system with Australia's which is not a republic by the definition you gave (and nobody claims that it is), but has at least some elements that this video attributes to being a republic, despite not being one! In the end, I think much of it comes down to how we define the terms. I do consider 'representative democracy' to be an accurate term for America, as it is for Australia, although Australia is a constitutional monarchy.
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