The question is never-ending. Clearly our federal government was established as a constitutional republic and the United States Constitution even requires that all states be guaranteed a republican form of government. Yet, it is constantly referred to as a Democracy.

It is difficult, perhaps impossible, to determine just when and why the term “democracy” became as common place as it is today. There is a school of thought that the change was deliberately introduced into use and propagated by the powers that be at the higher levels of our academic institutions for the express purpose of changing the way the citizens view their government by changing the terms we use to describe it.  The game being that if the people learn to call their government a democracy then they will begin to believe it is a democracy and then they will begin to act as though it is a democracy. Perhaps. However, that is not the point of this article and therefore I will leave it at that for this time.

More to the point that I want to address is the question of whether the word “democracy“ accurately describes the American government. The short answer is, no, it does not. Unless, of course, you prefer to have it the other way, in which the short answer is, yes, it does. The issue is whether we are talking about form or function.

In American government the power rests with the people, which is to say that, the people are sovereign. That technically makes us a popular sovereignty.  Democracy is a good synonym for popular sovereignty; it is easer to say; and it sounds better. Therefore, if you wish merely to convey the message that in a certain country, whether it be America or Iraq, the power resides with the people you would be correct to refer to it as a democracy.  This merely distinguishes it from other forms of government in which the people do not control the power, such as a dictatorship; monarchy; or a committee (such as the Communist Party Central Committee which once governed the USSR).

However, if you wish to described how the American government functions--how the power held by the people is transferred to the government and how that delegated power is then used to govern the nation, then “democracy” is not the correct term. It was in Ancient Athens. But it is not in America.

The term republic is of Latin origin and may be literally translated as law of the people or people’s law. That supreme body of law under which, and according to which, all other laws are made in this nation is the Constitution of the United States. Thus, our government is in fact a Constitutional Republic.

All power held by the American government is delegated to the government from the people by very precisely established processes of law. All power delegated to the government is then used to govern according to an establishment of laws. Those laws are created under and through a process of law. Everything that is legally done in American is done according to law—without regard to who is doing it[1].  Nothing is done simply by “majority rule” unless there is first a law which specifies that such action will be authorized by majority rule.   Thus we call ours a nation of laws—not of men.

A recent example of my point is the passage of Proposition Eight by California voters. Some of those in support of the measure, when responding to the threat of court challenges to change the outcome of the election, have been heard to say, “This is supposed to be a democracy and the majority is supposed to rule.” (Or words to that affect.) Such comments indicate that the speaker is not well schooled in civics. They should be saying instead, “This is nation of laws. And the law (of California) provides that the Constitution may be amended by a majority vote at a duly held election.”