(If you read this, please comment or answer my question on facebook)
I often wondered how a Democrat or Republican was truly defined. It's easier to understand the differences if you go back to the basis of the words. Put simply, there is only one difference in them, defining who controls sovereignty. A Democracy grants the powers of sovereignty to a majority group whereas a Republic grants those powers to an individual. Sovereignty is the supreme power to make rules or laws.
In a pure democracy, it's basically mob rule. For example, if a vote were called for a new law and a slight majority won the vote, then the majority rule is applied and the minority have no more say. Democracy is a dictatorship of the majority.
In a republic, the group only has advisory powers; the sovereign individual is free to reject the majority group-think. (in the USA we have an exception: if 100% of a jury convicts, then the individual loses sovereignty and is subject to group-think as in a democracy.) If a bill is passed and an individual rejects the majority group rule, the individual has the right and voice to reject or refuse the rule. Within a republic, the rule is advisory, not mandated.
The United States is a mixture of the two. The people in a republic enjoy their natural rights, sometimes called God-given rights, and in our democracy we enjoy government granted or civil rights. This is the basis for what distinguishes between Democrats and Republicans.
I value the rights of an individual more than the rights of the people as a whole so I favor our republic. I don't completely reject democracy either because it has its place in our country structure...but I have discovered that I am more Republican than Democrat.
