Editing Democracy (section)

====Republic====
{{Main|Republicanism}}

The term ''[[republic]]'' has many different meanings, but today often refers to a representative democracy with an elected [[head of state]], such as a [[President (government title)|president]], serving for a limited term, in contrast to states with a hereditary [[monarch]] as a head of state, even if these states also are representative democracies with an elected or appointed [[head of government]] such as a [[Prime Minister|prime minister]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/republic|title=Republic – Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary|publisher=M-W.com|date=25 April 2007|access-date=22 August 2010}}</ref>

The [[Founding Fathers of the United States]] often criticised [[direct democracy]], which in their view often came without the protection of a constitution enshrining inalienable rights; [[James Madison]] argued, especially in [[Federalist No. 10|''The Federalist'' No. 10]], that what distinguished a direct ''democracy'' from a ''republic'' was that the former became weaker as it got larger and suffered more violently from the effects of faction, whereas a republic could get stronger as it got larger and combats faction by its very structure.<ref name="Federalist10">{{cite web|title=The Federalist Papers : No. 10|url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed10.asp|work=[[Avalon Project]]|date=29 December 1998|access-date=7 January 2022}}</ref>

Professors Richard Ellis of [[Willamette University]] and Michael Nelson of [[Rhodes College]] argue that much constitutional thought, from Madison to Lincoln and beyond, has focused on "the problem of majority tyranny". They conclude, "The principles of republican government embedded in the Constitution represent an effort by the framers to ensure that the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness would not be trampled by majorities."<ref>Richard J. Ellis and Michael Nelson, ''Debating the presidency'' (2009) p. 211</ref> What was critical to American values, [[John Adams]] insisted,<ref>Novanglus, no. 7. 6 March 1775</ref> was that the government be "bound by fixed laws, which the people have a voice in making, and a right to defend." As Benjamin Franklin was exiting after writing the US Constitution, [[Elizabeth Willing Powel]]<ref name="Brockell">{{cite news|last1=Brockell|first1=Gillian|title='A republic, if you can keep it': Did Ben Franklin really say Impeachment Day's favorite quote?|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/12/18/republic-if-you-can-keep-it-did-ben-franklin-really-say-impeachment-days-favorite-quote/|access-date=20 January 2021|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=19 December 2019}}</ref> asked him "Well, Doctor, what have we got—a republic or a monarchy?". He replied "A republic—if you can keep it."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch18I.html|title=''The Founders' Constitution: Volume 1, Chapter 18, Introduction'', "Epilogue: Securing the Republic"|publisher=Press-pubs.uchicago.edu|access-date=22 August 2010}}</ref>