This is interesting

[BentSailor]

Funnily enough, you keep pointing to being a republic as proof somehow of not being a democracy. It's like pointing to the fact you are male as being proof you're not black - they are not mutually exclusive.

No-one is claiming you are not a republic, PDP

[ssneade]

no matter who made the statement, the claims are true. look at history, it's all there....

[PCP]

Originally Posted by poopdeckpappy

Well Bent, ya know what they say. " many dictionaries reveal more about the personality of the lexicographer than about the English language "

You mean that about the Merriam-Webster, the reference English dictionary?

Merriam-Webster - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Originally Posted by poopdeckpappy

"The United States of America (also called the United States, the States, the U.S., the USA, and America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district".

So, as for who to believe ??, I'll continue to believe what I was taught some 45 yrs ago and that is, we are a republic and we are one nation under God

As I have said:

Originally Posted by PCP

...
United States of America is obviously a democracy. It is also a Constitutional Republic but German, Portugal, France, Italy and most of the EC countries are also Constitutional Republics and like US they are all democracies.
...

By the way, Germany is not only a Constitutional Republic and a Democracy but also a Federal Republican country with 16 states much like the United States.

"The Federal Republic of Germany is a federal state made up of 16 constituent states - the Länder. Accordingly, there are federal laws that apply for the whole territory of the Federation, and Land laws that only have validity in the Land in question."

German Bundestag: Competencies of the German Federation and the Länder

Regards

Paulo

[SloopJonB]

Originally Posted by PCP

You mean that about the Merriam-Webster, the reference English dictionary?

PCP, the MW is not the reference ENGLISH dictionary - that honour belongs to the Oxford. The MW is a dictionary of AMERICAN English which is quite a different animal.

[PCP]

Originally Posted by SloopJonB

PCP, the MW is not the reference ENGLISH dictionary - that honour belongs to the Oxford. The MW is a dictionary of AMERICAN English which is quite a different animal.

Yes I know, I mean that for the Americans the MW is the reference dictionary

Regards

Paulo

[poopdeckpappy]

Originally Posted by BS

Funnily enough, you keep pointing to being a republic as proof somehow of not being a democracy. It's like pointing to the fact you are male as being proof you're not black - they are not mutually exclusive.

There is a difinitive distinction between a republic and a democracy and that distinction makes them mutually exclusive

No-one is claiming you are not a republic, PDP

Anyone claiming the US is a democracy is

Originally Posted by PCP

You mean that about the Merriam-Webster, the reference English dictionary?

Merriam-Webster - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It applies to all dictionaries and any lexicographer, look how they've muddied the definition between Republic and Democracy

[BentSailor]

Interesting. You repeat the assertion yet provide not proof - funny how often the conservatives here do that when presented with facts & references

Come on PDP, show (with reference) how a republic is mutually exclusive with a democracy. Currently the only proof offered shows your claim to be without foundation.

It applies to all dictionaries and any lexicographer, look how they've muddied the definition between Republic and Democracy

We're actually waiting for you to show how that is so, PDP.

[poopdeckpappy]

Traditionally a republic is distinguished from a true democracy in that the republic operates through a representative assembly chosen by the citizenry, while in a democracy the populace participates directly in governmental affairs.

Reference
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press

Reference
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online

Just as I suggested to Jackdale, pick up most any reference book, America history or US government book ( if the libs haven't burn them yet ) and read it.

Originally Posted by BS

We're actually waiting for you to show how that is so, PDP.

A Republic as defined by M-W:

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 (2) : a political unit (as a nation) having such a form of government

A Democracy as defined by M-W

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

Does this

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

Sound like this

in a democracy the populace participates directly in governmental affairs.

Not at all, but then, neither definition reflex our system so, I care not

[BentSailor]

Originally Posted by poopdeckpappy

Reference
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press

Reference
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

From the same source

democracy [Gr.,=rule of the people], term originating in ancient Greece to designate a government where the people share in directing the activities of the state, as distinct from governments controlled by a single class, select group, or autocrat. The definition of democracy has been expanded, however, to describe a philosophy that insists on the right and the capacity of a people, acting either directly or through representatives, to control their institutions for their own purposes.

Oh dear, someone forgot to check whether their source contradicted them before using it

Just as I suggested to Jackdale, pick up most any reference book, America history or US government book ( if the libs haven't burn them yet ) and read it.

Again I am not debating that the US is a republic, just that it is also a democracy as the word is understood now and has been for at least the decade I've been looking into politics.

A Republic as defined by M-W:
...
A Democracy as defined by M-W
...
Does this -[ snip repeated definition ]-
Sound like this -[ snip cherry-picked subset of democracy from encyclopedia source ]-

Actually, yes the dictionary definition sounds very much like the encyclopaedic description, provided one doesn't snip out the important parts. You've still to prove your case given the definitions are compatible even using the source you chose.

What is it with conservatives here and thinking that we won't check their sources?

[PCP]

Originally Posted by poopdeckpappy

"Traditionally a republic is distinguished from a true democracy in that the republic operates through a representative assembly chosen by the citizenry, while in a democracy the populace participates directly in governmental affairs."


Reference
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press

Reference
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online

...

Has I have told you before many EC countries are Constitutional Republics, some even are Federal Constitutional Republics (with many states) all are Democracies and in none the " populace participates directly in governmental affairs".

Your claim that the "There is a difinitive distinction between a republic and a democracy and that distinction makes them mutually exclusive" makes no sense since most of the EC countries are Constitutional Republics and Democracies.

It is obvious that the Merriam Webster dictionary is more accurate (more short and precise) than the Columbia dictionary even if in the end both say the same. BentSailor had showed that the Columbia dictionary is not so bad and that you were just quoting what you have find convenient. Under both dictionaries definition US is a democracy.

There is not to my knowledge any country that is ruled by democracy as it is defined by the Electronic Columbia University Press. That would mean that there is not in the world a single Democratic country. If this does not strike you as ridiculous....well you are a lost cause one of those to whom party politics and their messy affairs are more important than truth.

Regards

Paulo