James Madison, one of the main authors of the Constitution, said pure democracy often leads to “mob rule.” That means the majority can gang up on the minority. So instead, they gave us a republic — a ...

Do Americans live in a republic or a democracy? The question has been a real talker in the Utah Legislature, where a bill would mandate that Utah's public schools specifically teach that the ...

In his new book, Democracy or Republic? The People and the Constitution (AEI Press, 2023), AEI’s Jay Cost argues that the Constitution is being misunderstood.

Whenever someone argues America is a republic, not a democracy, it's usually because they don't like democracy. The terms are not precise and neither are they mutually exclusive things.

“A republic, if you can keep it.” With these words Benjamin Franklin is said to have described what delegates to the ...

Questions about what counts as a democracy - what it means to have popular government - are highly important, and contested, right now.

Americans trust each other less than we used to, and that’s creating problems for our ability to govern ourselves. Ultimately, it raises questions about the future of our democracy.

Many public debates about democracy-versus-republic, according to Heersink, are thinly masked attempts to alter or preserve a status quo that benefits a party or candidate for at least the short-term.

CNN's Donie O'Sullivan speaks with Trump supporters rejecting President Biden's "protecting democracy" platform by saying the U.S. is a republic, not a democracy. "America's not a democracy, it's ...

Plato argued that democracy by its very nature cannot work. The direct involvement of the people in the affairs of state will lead to a situation where takers outnumber givers, thereby rendering ...