2020-12-27
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด R – Republic & democracy
แนะนำการใช้ ตามที่ส่วนใหญ่ใช้ แต่ละท้องถิ่น
ความหมาย อาจผันแปร ตาม ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค
Dictionary.com
ออกเสียง Republic = ‘ri-PUHB-lik’
ออกเสียง democracy = ‘dih-MOK-ruh-see’
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group
republic
A democratic state or form of government
in which the head of state is elected
rather than holding hereditary office.
THE NEW DICTIONARY OF CULTURAL LITERACY, THIRD EDITION
NOTES FOR DEMOCRACY
Democratic institutions,
such as parliaments, may exist in a monarchy.
Such constitutional monarchies
as Britain, Canada, and Sweden
are generally counted as democracies in practice.
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree
democracy
= government by the people:
The United States is a democracy.
Not to be confused with:
anarchy = the absence of laws or government:
The fall of the empire was followed by chaos and anarchy.
aristocracy = rule by elite or privileged upper class:
The governing body was composed of the country’s most powerful aristocracy.
oligarchy = government by the few:
The citizens have no voice in an oligarchy.
plutocracy = government in which the wealthy class rules:
In a plutocracy, there is little regard for the poor.
Dictionary.com
HOMEWORK HELP
What is democracy?
Democracy is a system of government
where the citizens of a state exercise powerto rule the state,
either directly or through electing representatives.
What does democracy mean?
Democracy can refer to a system of government
or to a particular state that employs this system.
The word entered English around the 1570s, from the Middle French démocratie,
but it originally comes, via Latin, from the ancient Greek demokratia,
which literally means “rule” (kratos) by the “people” (demos).
The Greek demokratia dates all the way back to the 5th century b.c.,
when it was used to describe the government
in some city-states, notably Athens.
There are two kinds of democracy:
direct and representative.
Direct democracy is when the people are directly involved
in governing the state.
Representative democracy, which characterizes the U.S. system,
occurs when people elect representatives
to ensure their interests in government.
When we think of democracy today,
we usually think of a representative
one in which all or most people are able to participate.
This concept didn’t originate
until a very long time after democracy’s ancient roots.
In 507 b.c., Cleisthenes, the leader of Athens,
introduced a series of reforms
designed to allow the people to have a voicein ruling the city.
It included three different political bodies:
the governors, the council of representatives, and the courts.
Only male citizens over the age of eighteencould vote,
excluding those from outside the city, slaves, and all women.
This system of government lasted until around the 400 b.c.,
when it began to waver,
with conquests by neighbors gradually weakening it further.
Athenian democracy was probably
not the first example of democracy in the ancient world,
but it is the best-known early version,
and it is from here that we draw the word and its governmental philosophy.
Another well-known example of early democracy was
the Roman Republic.
Like Athens, it wasn’t what we would think of today as a full democracy.
Again, only adult male citizens were eligible to participate.
Italy continued the tradition in a few of its medieval city-based republics. Venice, and Florence particularly, had governmental systems
that included political participation by the people, if in a limited way.
Democracy also found its way into monarchical European states
through the concept of the parliament,
which was a council that advised the monarch.
For the most part, only those who already had power
could participate in parliaments,
though Sweden allowed peasants to participate in its council
(the Riksdag) starting in the 15th century.
The Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries brought a greater questioning of established authority to mainstream philosophy and discourse.
This trend had a strong impact on the fledgling United States,
which, when it won its independence from Great Britain in 1783,
set up a system of representative democracy to represent its people.
France was also impacted by this model. The French Revolution in 1789
was an attempt to achieve democracy,
though the country didn’t achieve it until the mid-1800s.
It was not until the 20th century that universalor broader suffrage,
or the right to vote, was extended in mostcountries,
and it was in the 20th century that democracy spread.
By the beginning of the 21st century, almost halfof the countries of the world had some variety of democratic or near-democratic system.
Types of democracies are classified according to
various distinguishing features,
including constitutional democracy, democratic socialism, Jeffersonian democracy, liberal democracy, parliamentary democracy, or presidential democracy,
to name a few.
Democracy is also used for non-governmentalorganizational systems,
such as a workplace democracy,
which applies democratic principlesin professional contexts.
An advocate of democracy or democratic valuesis called a democrat,
not to be confused with a member of the U.S. Democratic party.
Dictionary.com
“Democracy” vs. “Republic”: Is There A Difference?
You probably hear countries like the United States or France
referred to as democracies.
At the same time, you probably also hear both of thesecountries called republics.
Is that possible?
Are democracies and republicsthe same thing or different?
We don’t blame you for confusing these two terms.
With a major and heated US election underway,
it’s the perfect time for some Government 101.
Let’s brush up on these two words
to see what they have in common—and what sets them apart.
What does democracy mean?
A democracy is defined as
“government by the people;
a form of government in which the supreme power
is vested in the people and exercised directly by them
or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.”
A nation with this form of government is also referred to as a democracy.
A democracy is achieved byconducting free elections
in which eligible people
1) vote on issues directly, known as a direct democracy, or
2) elect representatives to handle the issues for them,
called a representative democracy.
The word democracy dates back in English to around 1525–1535.
It comes from the Greek dēmokratía, meaning“popular government.”
Ancient Greece was home to what most consider to be the oldest form of democracy, the city-state of Athens.
In Athens, the people (Greek, dêmos) held the power (Greek, krátos) and made the decisions for their society—forming a dēmokratía.
But it’s essential to note the people who are able to vote in Athens
only included certain non-enslaved Athenianmen,
making this direct democracy very different
from the way we understand democracy today.
What is a direct democracy?
For example,
if a town only had enough funding
to repair either their sewer system or roads,
it might ask the citizens to vote on which one should get the money.
Its members would vote on their preference,
and the town’s government would follow the will of the people
and go with their choice.
This is a basic example of direct democracy.
Many referendums are voted on this way,
such as the Scottish independence (from the United Kingdom) referendum in 2014 and the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum (popularly referred to as Brexit) in 2016.
What is a representative democracy?
In contrast to a direct democracy,
the people in a representative democracy
elect representatives who act then on behalf of them,
known as their constituents.
Many of the world’s parliaments
and the US’s Congress are an example of representative democracies.
Today, it is inefficient, if not impossible,
to have every eligible citizen vote on every issue
—to vote on every piece of legislation that it takes to run a city, a state, a country.
Instead, citizens vote for leaders to dothe work of governing for them.
Let’s revisit our municipal sewer/road matter.
A representative democracy would not have each and every citizen of a town directly vote on whether tofund a sewer system or road repairs.
Instead, the citizens would elect a mayor and city council to handle these issues in their place.
The elected officials would then vote on where city funding should go, doing their best to reflect and respect the needs ofthe people who voted for them.
What does republic mean?
A republic is defined as “a state in which the supreme power rests in
the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them.” Sound familiar? It should.
You see, many of today’s democracies are also republics,
and are even referred to as democratic republics.
So, the US and France are considered both democracies and republics
—both terms point to the fact that
the power of governance rests in the power, and the exercise of that power is done through some sort of electoral representation.
The key concept to the word republic is
that the leader of this government (or state) is not a hereditary monarch
but a president, whether they are electedor installed.
This core idea helps explain in part
why autocratic governmentslike North Korea
is officially called the Democratic People’s Republicof Korea.
Its citizens vote (or “vote”) on a single candidate.
A historical example of a republic is also instructive.
The Republic of Venice, a mercantile city-state of the Middle Ages,
was led by a doge who was elected by wealthy merchants
and served until his death.
Neither of these governments would be considereda democracy.
The word republic is first recorded in English 1595–1605.
It comes from the Latin rēs pūblica, meaning “public thing,”
characterizing that a state is ultimately run by its people
—as opposed to monarchy or tyranny.
For nearly 500 years, ancient Rome was a republic
before it became ruled by emperors.
So, is the United States a democracy or republic?
For all practical purposes, it’s both.
In everyday speech and writing, you can safely refer tothe US as a democracy or a republic.
If you want or need to be more precise in referring to the system of the US, you can accurately call it a representative democracy.
And should you need to be exacting?
The US can be called a federal presidential constitutional republic
or a constitutional federal representative democracy.
What you should take away in the confusion (or debate) over democracy vs. republic
is that, in both forms of government,
power ultimately lies with the people who are able to vote.
If you are eligible to vote—vote.
It’s what, well, makes true democracies and republics.
THE NEW DICTIONARY OF CULTURAL LITERACY, THIRD EDITION
republic
A form of government in which power is explicitly vested in the people,
who in turn exercise their power through elected representatives.
Today, the terms republic and democracy are virtually interchangeable,
but historically the two differed.
Democracy implied direct rule by the people,
all of whom were equal,
whereas republic implied a system of government
in which the will of the people was mediated by representatives,
who might be wiser and better educated than the average person.
In the early American republic, for example,
the requirement that voters own property and the establishment of institutions
such as the Electoral College were intended to cushion
the government from the direct expression of the popular will.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Frequently Asked Questions About democracy
Is the United States a democracy or a republic?
The United States is both a democracy and a republic.
Democracies and republics are both forms of government
in which supreme power resides in the citizens.
The word republic refers specifically to a government
in which those citizens elect representatives
who govern according to the law.
The word democracy can refer tothis same kind of representational government,
or it can refer instead to what is also called a direct democracy,
in which the citizens themselves participate in the act of governing directly.
What is the basic meaning of democracy?
The word democracy most often refers to a form of government in which people choose leaders by voting.
What is a democratic system of government?
A democratic system of government
is a form of government in which supreme poweris vested in the people
and exercised by them directly or indirectly
through a system of representation
usually involving periodic free elections.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Is the United States a democracy or a republic?
One of the most commonly encountered questions about the word
democracy has nothing to do with its spelling or pronunciation,
and isn’t even directly related to the meaning of the word itself.
That question is “is the United States a democracy or a republic?”
The answer to this, as with so many other questions about meaning, may be phrased as some form of “it depends.”
Some people assert that a country calling itself a democracy
must be engaged in direct (or pure) democracy,
in which the people of a state or region vote directly for policies,
rather than elect representatives who make choices on their behalf.
People who follow this line of reasoning hold that the United States is more properly described as a republic,
using the following definition of that word:
"a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law."
However, both democracy and republic have more than a single meaning,
and one of the definitions we provide for democracy
closely resembles the definition of republic given above:
"a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections."
So if someone asks you if the United States is a democracy or a republic,
you may safely answer the question with either “both” or “it depends.”
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
'Democracy Dies in Darkness'
Lookups for 'democracy' spiked
after The Washington Post unveiled its new slogan
22 Feb 2017
Lookups for democracy spiked on February 22, 2017,
after The Washington Post began using a new slogan on its website:
“Democracy dies in darkness.”
Many commentaries connected
the move with President Trump’s hostility to the press in general,
and the Post in particular.
Democracy means “a form of government in which people choose leaders
by voting.”
It came to English from French in the early 1500s,
but traces back through Latin to Greek;
it was formed from the Greek words dēmos, meaning “people” and kratia, meaning “strength” or “power.”
Democracy is among the most looked-up words in our dictionary,
and is currently #12 in all-time lookups.
The word does not appear in either the Declaration of Independence
or the Constitution of the United States,
but it was well known and used by the founderswho created those documents, including John Adams:
Democracy, nevertheless must not be disgraced.
Democracy must not be despised.
Democracy must be respected.
Democracy must be honoured.
Democracy must be cherished.
Democracy must be an essential, an integral part of the Souvereignty,
and have a controul over the whole Government,
or moral Liberty cannot exist, or any other Liberty.
—John Adams, Letter to John Taylor, 12 De. 1814
Adams distinguishes democracy from other types of republics
in a later letter, and in doing so showed himself to be a man of the people,
at least insofar as exhibiting an inconsistency in
how he chose to apply the apostrophe to his substantives.
Of Republicks the Varieties are infinite—or at least as numerous, as the tunes and changes, that can be rang upon a complete sett of Bells—Of all the Variety’s a Democracy is the most Natural—the most ancient and the most fundamental—and essential of all others.
—John Adams, Letter to J. H. Tiffany, 30 Apr. 1819
Dictionary of Problem Words and Expression
Republic & democracy
These words are used interchangeably;
the United States, for example, is referred to as a democracy
as often as it is as a republic.
The country was founded as
a republic, a term meaning
“a state in which the supreme power restsin citizens
entitled to vote, which power is exercisedby chosen representatives.”
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which It stands …..”
A democracy is “a state in which supreme power rests in the people
and is exercises by them.”
The distinction lies in “government by elected representatives”
and “government by the people.”
In essence, the United States is both a republicand a democracy,
but careful writers sometimes distinguish betweenthe word.
The words republican and democratichave no specific meaning
except as the names of political parties.
Depending upon their party,
candidates have been known to say
“Vote the Democratic ticket because this country is a democracy”
and “Vote the Republican ticket because this country isa republic.”
Recommendation:
don’t vote for either candidate; both are playing the words.
