Democracy – a system of government in which political authority is held by the people; every citizen has equal rights, people have a say in “what goes on” by voting.
“Democracy” comes from two different Greek words: demos which means ‘people’ and kratos which means "rule"
A government ruled by a king – or queen!
England is an example of a Monarchy
Queen
Elizabeth II
1953 - Present
Used to be very similar to a democracy. Now, the definition of a republic government is “any government with a leader, such as a president or dictator other than a king.
Iraq was a REPUBLIC
Saddam HusseinFormer Iraqi
President
Question: “So after learning that Iraq was a republic, what do you think about the republic form of government?”
Is it horrible?
Hint: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America...
Did you guess?? AMERICA is a
REPUBLIC!
But here is the difference…America is a DEMOCRATIC Republic. Hmmm…so let’s
think about what we know…
A Republic is…A Republic is…
A government with a sole official in leadership (other than a monarchy), whether he/she is elected or otherwise.
A government run by the people with an official in leadership!
That’s America! We have the right to vote (Democracy). We also have a leader-president—that we have elected into office (Republic).
A Republic government isn’t a negative thing. It can represent democracy.
Jalal Talabani, new Iraqi President