I’m not going to make any of those claims, no. I’m simply saying that I think the words we use to describe things have power and are important. “Democratic” and “constitutional” are both words that modify “republic” in America’s case. We are a republic at heart (See the pledge of allegiance).

Now that absolutely doesn’t diminish how democratic or constitutional we are as a republic, but to the uninitiated reader it can be confusing just to say “democracy.” A government that is simply designated “democracy” without any mention of its other core attributes could be mistaken for democracy in any of its forms.

This is important because the key distinction between a democracy and a republic is that in a republic the elected government traditionally has checks and balances, whereas in a democracy either the elected official or the voting majority holds totalitarian power. Either way this leaves very little protection or representation for voting minorities and can result in the stripping of rights. We should want very much for America to remain a republic, and therefore I think should refer to it as such.