A republic is a democracy.

ianburrell 35 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

Republic back then meant commonwealth with any form of government. The Dutch Republic was loose union of seven provinces. Republic changed to mean democratic government by representatives without monarch.

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randallsquared 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It need not be democratic in the modern, universal suffrage sense.

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ButlerianJihad an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Like the People’s Republic of China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics? Those ones?

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stonogo 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Netherlands was not. It was a republic of oligarch-run states. They did not have even landholder suffrage until halfway through the 1800s.

	▲	topgrain2 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Yeah, “ackshually it’s a republic” is usually a case of midbrow “incorrecting” (political scientists regularly use “democracy” to label a basket of political systems that include democratic republics, it’s not just normal vulgar usage, the “pros” use it that way, too, all the time)… buuuuut this time it might be a hair worth splitting.