The Difference Between a Democracy and a Republic | 5 Minute Video
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- čas přidán 20. 08. 2024
- If you ask Americans to name their country’s form of government, most of them will say they live in a democracy. However, the real answer is more complicated (and unexpected) than that. Robert George, Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, explains.
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Script:
At the close of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1789, legend has it that a woman called out to Benjamin Franklin to ask what kind of government the delegates had created. Franklin responded “…a republic, madam. If you can keep it.”
A republic?
Shouldn’t Franklin have said “a democracy”?
Isn’t that what we have in the United States?
Most people today would say “yes.”
After all, if our country isn’t a democracy, what is it? It’s not a dictatorship, the rule of one man. Or an oligarchy, rule by a small group. In America the people are in charge. That’s literally what democracy means in the original Greek-demos kratos-the people (demos) rule (kratos).
But let’s pause for a moment and consider more deeply what the word means in practice and why the delegates in Philadelphia rejected it.
That’s right-rejected it.
Our government was established by a national charter-the Constitution of the United States. We are governed by the institutions, and according to the rules and principles, created and adopted when our forebears ratified that document, making it “the Supreme Law of the land.”
Are those institutions properly speaking democratic?
The men who bequeathed our form of government to us-those we call our founding fathers-didn’t see it that way.
They understood the institutions established by the Constitution to be republic.
In fact, though the founders believed in “government of the people, by the people, for the people” as Abraham Lincoln put it in the Gettysburg Address, they did not believe in pure or unrestricted democracy. They feared that democracy, strictly speaking, contained within it the impulse to mob rule-the stifling of civil liberty, the trampling by majorities of the rights of minorities.
To put it more bluntly, pure democracy frightened them.
So, while they built into the Constitution significant democratic elements, they also built in non-democratic features to protect liberty and prevent tyranny. It wasn’t simply that they favored representative government over direct democracy, though they did; it’s that they rejected the idea that “the majority wins” was by definition the just outcome.
Indeed, in what is perhaps the most famous of the eighty-five Federalist Papers-Federalist 10-James Madison, precisely in distinguishing a democracy, which he did not favor, from a republic, which he did, noted that a crucial advantage of republicanism is “to refine…the public views by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interests of the country…”
And, so, we have representative government, and more than that, we have a bicameral (that is, two-tiered) legislature-a Congress with a highly democratic House of Representatives and a not-very-democratic Senate.
Therefore, California, with its massive population, has fifty-two representatives in the House. Wyoming has one.
Yet Wyoming has two Senators-the same number as California and every other state.
A pure democrat would say, “that’s unfair!” Each Wyoming resident has far more power than every Californian.
But a republican would say, well, we aren’t and shouldn’t be a pure democracy. If we were large population states like California would overwhelm the needs and interests of small population states like Wyoming.
That’s why we’re called the United States of America. Each state has its own separate identity; holds its own separate elections. Just as we don’t want one person or small group of people to dominate our government, we don’t one state or a few states to dominate our government.
A republic is a way of diffusing power-and a brilliant one at that.
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I'm Ethiopian🇪🇹 and I live in Ethiopia. The more I learn about the founding fathers of the U.S., the more I'm amazed. They were way ahead of their time.
In fact, the original US Constitution and Bill of Rights, the way I understand it, were designed very much after beliefs and doctrines from the Cherokee Nation.
@@YohielSpeaks More so of the Iroquois Confederation.
@@jimmay1988 Aho!
On the Cherokee Nation Website it states: The Cherokee Nation adopted a Constitution that was modeled after the US Constitution in 1827.
They were truly amazing men. I’m not sure we have anyone alive today that are anywhere close to their abilities.
Wish more people today understood the beauty of a Constitutional Republic.
Rule by the lowest common denominator is STILL rule by the lowest common denominator.
Wish that more Americans would understand the beauty of our DOI --- our FUNDAMENTAL American Principles --- from which our Fed Constitution was derived.
How can they. For over 100 years all we do is give lip service to the constitution and no longer follow it.
@@Uqwefsdjxsa Why do you believe in Constitutional Monarchism? Why would you give control of your life to someone that just happened to be born into a wealthy family? Why would you bestow wealth and power to people who, by just the luck of being born, control your life and curtail your freedoms from no merit of their own.
@@Uqwefsdjxsa So you are talking monarchy as just a figure head, for social functions. As apposed to an actual monarch that is ruler of their country. All I am saying is why would the general public bestow upon someone wealth, when from no merit of their own other than simply being born. That is not the same if your parents are wealthy and they give you money. But, why should people go to work, pay taxes and for no reason give their hard earned money to someone that never earned a damn thing. Like the royal family in England. Why? Why should they lead a jet set life when the only thing they have to do in life is breathe. For doing absolutely nothing, people go out of their way to kiss their asses and give them money.
This should be shown in every high school in the US!!
It was when I was in high school. It should be brought back.
It's been replaced with videos teaching ideological subversion.
@@ohwhataday7171
This is part of the citizenship exam for foreigners who want to become americans. Meaning, non-americans end up knowing more about the country than a lot of americans.
If only!
Yes it should, but the leaders in charge don't want to educate people, just keep them dumb.
Republic is for ALL the people, and democracy for the majority.
You can have a healthy democratic constitutional monarchy! You can have a healthy democratic constitutional republic! Unhealthy constitutional republics also exist, because DEMOCRACY is missing! Examples of this last category include Russia, China, North Korea and Hungary!!!
Reasons why the Democrats want to save it! But we live in a republic! They want to convince us of otherwise for their own power.
Not today!
The Founding Fathers saw many people who neither believed in God, moral good, or justice, and would sell their vote for a beer if we had a democracy. They wanted people to elect an educated, God-fearing, and Honest representative who would meet with other representatives and discuss whether proposed laws were good for the whole country or represented a greedy minority, and what were the consequences of such a law (something people ignore nowadays----CONSEQUENCES, which always come whether you think of them or not.)
@@lyndaniel3369
Find a better definition of democracy than this! Frankly, you don’t know enough! Look at other developed countries which have healthy democracies! When the United States came into existence, the Founding Fathers would have known only about the histories of Ancient Greece and Rome. Many of the Founding Fathers were Deists! Consider the varieties of Christianity even in the 18th century! Besides, freedom of religion is written into the first amendment!
Democracy today isn't true democracy. It's mob rule
That's why in the Pledge of Allegiance, we say, "and to the Republic, for which it stands".
Unfortunately the pledge of allegiance is not only not practiced in most schools anymore, it's prohibited and denounced as raaaacist & other such nonsense.
@@normalabbie Source?
The pledge also says the nation is "indivisible" - and that's in jeopardy of late, as well.
@pilanceboil Locally, it's still pretty present, at least in Arkansas. A quick search just finds articles that claim that forcing students to recite the pledge is unconstitutional, so I was just curious if there were any.
@@MalcontentFlower theres a school I know that has their kids stop doing the pledge
I'm from Canada and your founding fathers were absolute geniuses. I can honestly say your constitution is the envy of the world, and the country it allowed to manifest with all its opportunities is nothing short of inspirational.
Never forget the sheer amount of people who risk their lives every day just to step foot on American soil.
Thank you! I agree our Founding Father's were brilliant.
Ah, the joy of Poe's Law.
I'm from Mexico and I can't agree more! Long live the USA!!!!
True words!
@@MalcontentFlower What? Care to explain?
This should be broadcast once a week on all the major media.
Totally agree
Yes, but sadly hell will freeze over before that happens...
That will never happen. The media is owned by enemies of America.
The author is comparing a republic to a pure democracy. A pure democracy doesn't exist anywhere except maybe in very small villages. A representative democracy is the exact same thing as a republic. The US is both a constitutional representative democracy and a constitutional republic. They mean the same thing.
@@johngallagher912 Representative democracies without constitutional guarantees of individual rights do exist. So are entirely fake representative democracies where the legislatures are just rubber stamps. Fake constitutions are also common.
You added in a constitution, implying that was somehow a given in other republics and representative democracies besides ours. It’s not. The attempt to allow any majority party to act as if it had unbridled power without constitutional restraint is what’s worrisome. Winning an election does have consequences. Trampling the loser’s rights entirely shouldn’t be one of them. That’s what a constitution is supposed to prohibit.
I get sick of hearing the media say "our democracy". Like it's theirs and theirs alone. We have a Republic.
No, actually, we have a FASCIST OLIGARCHY pretending to be a Republic. Ever heard of this concept called 'paying attention'??🤦♂
The media is correct. You’re confused.
"... if you can keep it." Wise words for out time.
The wording doesn't sound like Benjamin Franklin, even though he was known for his constant comments in a humorous vein. He also wanted the national bird to be the turkey----but everyone else chose the eagle.
That is the clearest description I have ever heard of the system of government in the US. Thank you Sir! 😎👍
Love the Dennis!
Trump = Putin = Biden = Stalin. Vote Haley on GOP primaries and Kennedy Jr. for President.
capotegabriel. trump sure does equal Putin,
No new wars under Trump, peace in the middle east under Trump. Damn him.
except it misrepresents the nature of what a republic is. A republic, which is a system by which we elect representatives meant to engage on the behalf of their constituents, has another name. You know what it is?
It's a **Representative Democracy**'
A constitutional republic is just a representative democracy whose basis in law is dictated by a document agreed upon by the representatives, and by extension, their constituents.
Saying "America isn't a democracy, it's a republic" is like saying "that's not a fish, it's a european sea-bass"
A
Great video. This should be played in all schools and colleges once a week.
That is a very "democratic" thought of yours.
@@dolfinw4179 Education is a good thing. Don’t knock it until you have tried it.
It used to be
naa. the teachers dont want to educate the kids with something that fill with ideas what is a republic or why its part of the US..
The democrats banned it from schools
Constitutional republic keeps everything balanced.
So can a Constitutional Democracy if you accept the meanings of the two words as put out by the Greeks over 2,500 years ago and accepted until conservatives changed their meaning back after the rise of Communism. For 2,500 years Republic meant in the West, that you had to have a qualification, like owning property, to vote. While Democracy meant every legal citizen could vote. Again, it's not how people view government I'm discussing. It's I'm bothered that after a couple of thousand years some people took it on themselves to change the long understood meaning of the two words.
I am astounded by so many suggesting you can't have a Constitutional, Representative Democracy with a Bill of Rights. Why not? Just me, just my opinion, but I'm guessing those saying we are a Constitutional Republican all vote Republican. And most saying we are a Constitutional Democracy all vote Democratic.
But people, for over 2,300 years before there was a Republican or a Democratic Party in America people in Europe used the words Republic and Democracy as the Greeks did. Entirely to define if beyond being a special quality, (like owning property) could you vote. Or were we a society were merely being a legal citizen was qualification to vote?
They used those word long before their were Republican and Democratic parties in the US. They have nothing to do with the names of the two parties for 2,400 years. Just concerned over changing the meaning of the words . Not a comment on political approaches to governing.
@@sscalercourtney5486
In the Greek democracy only the top richest people had the right to vote 🗳.
Eastern Germany and North Korea was/is officially Democratic Republics.
Democratic Republic of Germany.
Democratic Republic of Korea.
In other words
Democracy = Communism
Yeah, our government is so wonderfully balanced that Republicans lose the presidential vote and still get to be president. Would you be equally happy if positions were reversed and Democrats won with a minority?
You think we've achieved "Balance"?
@@jeffbayne15 Balance between what? The branches of government? The Republicans, even before Trump, have been aggressively undermining the legislative and judicial branches, while stacking the judiciary with party loyalists. Between the parties? There has never been "balance" between the parties, and Republicans want to permanently marginalize Democrats while ruling as a minority party. Between the elected government and will of the people? The current system guarantees that that will not happen, as an unrepresentative Senate and unrepresentative presidents (Bush II and Trump did not win the popular vote) rule even though they are not the choice of the people. What does "balance" even mean?
The founders wanted a government of moderation. They wanted a democratic component to the government (House of Representatives) but not a democracy, they wanted an aristocratic component (Senate) but not an aristocracy, they wanted a monarchial component but not a monarchy. The House was meant to be the voice of the people. Before the 17th amendment, the Senate was not a democratic body and was meant to be a body of elder statesman. The executive was to enforce the law, not create them. The founders created this government of moderation because they knew tyranny came in all forms. Tyranny can come from one person like a king or dictator, tyranny can come from the privileged few like an oligarchy, and tyranny can come from the majority trampling on the rights of the minority.
Well summarized.
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what’s for dinner.
*Restore the Republic*
•Repeal the 17th
•Term Limits for all 3 branches
•Balanced Budget Amendment!
@@sv3931 above all get rid of all these alphabet agencies that have no constitutional legitimacy. Federal bureau of investigation.
The Federal bureau of alcohol tobacco and firearms, and others.
Tyranny like the democratic party is doing now.
@@johnsoutherland3403
They have put together *7* federal agencies to investigate domestic terrorists: parents who attend school board meetings .. if parents crimes are not federal, the agencies will "assist" the states in prosecuting parents for non-federal crimes....
I don't know if we need to can the alphabets...or do the unheard of: actually prosecute the heads for constitutional violations ..
I'm not American nor do I live in the USA. And I think this video is excellent.
I majored in political science and philosophy in undergrad (before studying stats in grad), and this is the clearest presentation on the mechanism of a republic I have ever seen. The post-Socratic philosophers themselves rejected democracy as beautiful in theory but troublesome in practice.
Democracy can turn into tyranny --mob rule as this brilliant professor mentioned.
@@pololo2553 Absolutely. In Book VIII of The Republic, Plato described the progression that can follow from democracy.
“The ideal of a constitutional republic is individual liberty. In this century, great strides have been made toward the goal of subverting our republic, and transforming it into a democracy. The foremost tactic of the subverters is subversion of “language” - by calling America a democracy, until people thoughtlessly accept the term, and use the term. Totalitarians have obscured the real meanings and principles of American government.”
- Dan Smoot
That video is another awesome explanation of Constitutional Republic vs democracy.
Someone wise once said (I think Orwell) that the easiest and fastest way to subvert a country is to change the LANGUAGE.
This is an utterly MEANINGLESS, MORONIC statement, for no other purpose but to deceive! Nobody with power EVER tried to turn the U.S. into a Democracy. It has, obviously and provably, been hijacked and transformed into a FASCIST OLIGARCHY!
Awesome. I’m 69 years old and I’ve never had it explained to me so clearly & succinctly as it was in this video just what the distinction is between a republic and a pure democracy.
that's because it isnt said clearly-- he lied
How about you do another interesting talk on how and why the Collegiate System is so easily manipulated and corruptible to favor s select few. Cheers from Michael. Australia.
@@michaeljohn7398
Collegiate System?
Are you speaking about what has come to be called the "electoral college?" Which is a process not a place.
I agree with one of the commenters below. George is wrong. He is equivocating on the word "democracy." By standard usage of the term, the US is absolutely a democracy. It isn't a direct democracy (none such exist today), what Madison called a "pure democracy," stipulating his usage in a few pages of the Federalist Papers. But Madison was founder, along with Jefferson, of the Democratic-Republican Party, and in the twentieth century became known as the father of American democracy. That is not by accident. We do have the world's leading democracy, or did until recently.
From it's introduction in the 1570s, the term democracy meant "government by the people, system of government in which the sovereign power is vested in the people as a whole exercising power directly or by elected officials." Yes, that is the US. It is also a republic, a term that largely overlaps with democracy, but one can make stipulative differences, and there is one clear difference, a republic specifically does not have royalty, whereas democracy is usually a broader in this sense and can include, in some cases, a constitutional monarchy.
So yes, the US is a democracy (except that globalists corporations have eroded that to a great extent recently). The Republican party is more democratic, not less, than today's Democratic party. Don't let the names fool you.
@@timhuson4800 Yes. You are absolutely right. I never thought I would see such poor information put out by Prager U.
Holy smoke! I didn’t know we still had reasonable, logic-based, historically sound professors at the Ivy League schools! Get him!
Quickly before he spreads his venom to young minds! 😂
When an Ivy League Constitutional Law professor declares people don't need to understand the Constitution or the positions of those who wrote it, it is very clear that Constitutional Law professors at the supposed highest level of learning have absolutely ZERO understanding of the Constitution and absolutely ZERO desire to understand the Constitution, while they work feverishly to undermine the Constitution with every single act they take.
Armygirl... uhhh who said that? Because I think you might just be lying or accidentally misrepresenting what someone said.
Quickly though... it is true that conservatives banned an entire school of thought from even being mentioned in public schools: Critical race theory... which is literally just looking at how racism gets baked into laws throughout history like the Jim Crow Laws... so conservatives basically banned talking about Jim Crow Laws which is a part of our US history...
So much for free speech and the marketplace of ideas...
It's like they say... those who control the past now, control the future. Those who control the present now, control the past.
And conservatives control the present and they really want to rewrite the past...
"AMERICA IS NOT A DEMOCRACY IT IS TRULY A CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC AND IT'S VERY IMPORTANT FOR EVERYONE TO TRULY KNOW THE DIFFERENCE!".
No, actually, we have a FASCIST OLIGARCHY pretending to be a Republic. Ever heard of this concept called 'paying attention'??🤦♂
That's why the democrats say Trump is such a threat to democracy (this thing of theirs) He will restore things to a Republic like the great wisdom of our founding fathers had intended. Vote RED! PLEASE!!!
@@-WiseGuy- I think he meant that it was meant to be
Oh the stupidity of this comment.
Democracy is a philosophical concept, a Republic is an actual mechanism of government.
All you just accomplished is revealing how ignorant you are about Political Philosophy. When people get together and vote directly on an issue, seeking a majority rule, that is a Democracy. When they have representatives do it on their behalf, that is a Republic. How did you get such a simple concept so wrong?
@@-WiseGuy- Gillian’s Island isn’t real, nor are there any governments of direct rule.
@@-WiseGuy- A pure democracy is impossible you don't have farmers voting daily on whether to use the nuclear launch codes today or tomorrow, there needs to be a representative to study that... David is correct
THEY NEED TO TEACH THIS TO EVERYONE,
Schools did at one time like when I was in my high school’s government classes.
Instead they teach what a republic actually is
A republic, which is a system by which we elect representatives meant to engage on the behalf of their constituents, has another name. You know what it is?
It's a **Representative Democracy**'
Saying "America isn't a democracy, it's a republic" is like saying "that's not a fish, it's a european sea-bass"
The democrats banned it from schools
@@LoudAngryJerk issue is that in this case there is a fish called "fish"
"We have a republic and we should keep it"
Yes, a Democratic Republic. One of the forms of democracy.
..Troll'Tard .. OLD WORLD ODOR FascismRule .. Economic 'Caste System' .. SH_T Theater Kleptocrat, Plutocrat, Kakistocracy Marionette Muppets Of OLD EuroVatican Ordered .. Dolt.
We currently have neither.
@@user-zu5do6ri6r By all means, enlighten us keyboard warrior. Share your magnificent wisdom with the commoners.
Just read the comments. Keeping the Republic our founding fathers gave us requires strong, informed citizens. Read the comments, (even just the ones to your own statement) and you will clearly see why this country is doomed.
I wish more of our youth understood our Constitution and how our government functioned. Thank you for a program that needs to be heard by every citizen.
God bless Dennis Prager and PragerU.
@@JB69.
What a dirty joke!!! PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH ABOUT THIS SO-CALLED EDUCATIONAL SOURCE!!!
Yeah...Imaginary being bless the propagandists called PragerU!🤦♂
Old man here. I’m so in awe of the wisdom of our founding fathers! They thought of so many things, political landmines, so to speak, to guide their posterity. They had to be inspired by GOD to come up with all these great documents. We owe them a tremendous debt, because of them, America is great!
I just wrote something like what you wrote (one month later) I am very happy an
Australian thinks a lot like an American
The founding fathers were inspired by GOD through fervent prayer
@@aaa7189 - Well, the founding fathers only THINK that they were inspired by some imaginary being called "god" through pointless fervent prayer, and with no proof of it, they did create the U.S. Constitution and other documents anyway! Furthermore, with the way the U.S. has been so divided as ever from the 20th Century and beyond, the Constitution has also proven to be even so imperfect as well.
they never thought the government would become so large - or be allowed to become so large.
No, they were NOT inspired by God and most of them were not even Christians. At least, not a protestant Christian.
This video needs to be sent to every politician today and future politicians! They have no idea of how our government should be run!
We aren't a Republic any more. We are an Oligarchy.
Well said friend AMEN.
Especially AOC
Posting things like this caused my account on Facebook to be disabled. One more example of mob rule.
Exactly ma'am but the thing is the government doesn't care it's just ganna do whatever it wants, history shows it what I mean of "history shows it "? I mean government's in other countries and even this one in America will do and take whatever it wants to take from its own citizenss especially when it comes with big government. For example back in 19 late 70s early 80s the government took a farm that's been in business since the civil war. Which comes down to only way to fix it is to have a revolution against the government, which hate to say it but some point of time it's ganna happen, just about other countries has done it before now it's us. I hope that never happens hope for a revival not another revolution. But that's my opinion I guess.
What a breath of fresh air you bring to the CZcams videos on politics! Only a professor can do that. Suave and sober personality, and informed, precise interpretation of politics. Thanks.
I wish the People could understand the importance of the Militia and how it is so relevant today.
Yes. And the Second Amendment. 120 million gun owners.
Which States have a Militia? None.
Thank you! I am amazed by our founding fathers’ wisdom!
Yes, like Thomas Jefferson opining that the story of Virgin Mary would one day take its place in mythology with the story of Minerva springing from the head of Jupiter.
Conservative heads would explode over that tidbit, but they would secretly love Ben Franklin for saying that America should be reserved for the "beautiful white" and not the "sons of Africa". For the sake of the latter objective, maybe our wise Founding Fathers blew it by owning so many slaves and not anticipating the unforeseen consequences.
On the other hand a "mythical past" of "greatness" is a bulwark of fascist ideology.
This video is complete BS. Letting Wyoming be "overrepresented" in the Senate has nothing to do with being a republic or democracy. Saying "America is republic, not a democracy" is like saying "this is an apple, not a fruit".
An alternative to a constitutional republic is a constitutional MONARCHY (like United Kingdom 🇬🇧, Japan 🇯🇵 , and several Scandinavian countries, etc. ).
The difference is very simple: Monarchies do not have a president. They have monarch, a king or queen, who is not democratic elected. In a democratic republic the president IS democratic elected. In a democratic monarchy, the monarch does not have any power but is more symbolic, whereas in a democratic republic like America, the president has a lot of power.
The truth is that America is BOTH a democracy AND a republic.
@@GGNH1234 Lol Most PragerU videos are complete BS.
well as James Madison worked his slaves from dawn to dusk 6 days a week he had time to think about stuff. hard on his suffering slaves though?
@@marcokite How many slaves did James Madison own?
Honestly, I learned a lot watching this. Great video!
Doesn't it infuriate you that this was not taught in school?
PragerU is scientifically propaganda, so I feel sorry for you.
You just wanted to say something demeaning didn't you and you really didn't understand the video more likely you didn't watch it but you knew because well someone else told you so that this must be propaganda because well they would never tell you how to think incorrectly maybe Lee maybe just maybe here's an idea pull your head out of your ass and I'll start thinking for yourself what yourself what in this video was propaganda where was the lie in it ?
A pure democracy is 3 wolves and 1 sheep voting on whats for dinner. But in a republic the sheep still has rights. Thats the best way I've heard to describe the difference between a republic and a pure democracy.
@@quadstar4382Wrong. What left wing schools teach is propaganda. PragerU teaches actual facts. Have some common sense man.
I used to go around and around with my parents, telling them that we were a Republic and NOT a Democracy! They stubbornly believed that we were a Democracy until they died. They couldn't fathom that a Democracy was a Lynch Mob!
I don't understand why so many people gave a thumbs down. Doesn't a Republican form of government with Democratic institutions make way more sense than a pure democracy?
Unfortunately, Democrats see the Constitution as an obstacle to be overcome or evaded rather than a guiding document to be respected and adhered to.
This should be taught in school; i know personally, I was never taught about our politics in this country. It’s We The People, but the average citizen doesn’t understand their power.
It used to be taught in schools. I went back to college recently for another degree. I'm not even 42, so I'm not that old. I was shocked when I went back to school how ill-informed the students were. They knew nothing about history. Literally nothing about government. I mean literally nothing. They never heard of the Articles of the Confederation, our original constitution, or the original presidents before Washington. The foreign exchange students knew a LOT more about American history & government then the American kids knew.
Truer words were never spoken! Now if we could just get them informed on how express themselves peacefully and legally!
this goes back to 1980 when I was in 9th grade. We had a new teacher for our Civics class and he was overwhelmed with questions. I was in Boy Scouts then (in a good troop) and I had a good understanding of how the government worked so Mr. Phillips asked if I could help explain things to the other students. It was truly an honor for me. So to this day, when someone seems confused about government operations I give them honest, unbiased information.
that's because that power is being removed...almost complete...gave you looked outside or had a run in with an officer of the law? they think the law is do what they say n get angry when you speak of having any rights!
And that was the idea. Knowledge is power. They don't want you to have power. Its harder to control you.
It’s been said that in a democracy you have the privilege of electing your rulers, but in a republic you have the right to elect your servants.
China is a republic. Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union were republics. This wholesale rejection of democracy on the right right now is not just concerning. It is absolutely unacceptable. Democracy is non-negotiable.
@@DGollp Just because a nation calls themselves republics doesn’t mean they actually are. Look up the etymology of the words to get a better understanding of what they mean. America is a union of 50 individual republics. In a true republic you elect/hire servants and grant them authority to handle the People’s public business and the servants are forbidden to interfere in the a People’s private affairs, hence the word re/public, the public thing. A democracy is basically mob/majority rule and thus the minority doesn’t have any rights. It’s 2 wolves and 1 sheep voting on what’s for dinner.
Article 4 Section 4 of the federal constitution says:
Text of Section 4:
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence
Kentucky Bill of Rights section 2 gives what I believe is a excellent explanation of what a republic is or better yet isn’t:
Text of Section 2:
Absolute and arbitrary power over the lives, liberty and property of freemen exists nowhere in a republic, not even in the largest majority.[1]
America is not nor will it ever been a democracy. Democracy has been wholeheartedly rejected from the beginning. The idea that we are is a fabrication of the left/establishment/deepstate; which consists of both the democrat and republican parties, and a outright lie. Btw the fact that the parties call themselves by those names has no relation to what the words actually mean.
A little extra word study for ya,
Grant: : to agree to do, give, or allow (something asked for or hoped for)
You've been lied to
@Ethnic Nationalist says an ethnic nationalist lol
@Ethnic Nationalist wha- what? I am confused with that come back, i am no flat earther and my pp is Terraformed Mars and my name is name of a music in a game so i am extremely confused how you though i am a flat earther
This is the kind of information that should be taught everywhere. Straight to the point and unbiased information. I just sit here and was thinking wow, because it's so rare to come by these days.
It was when I was in school up through high school. It was removed for a reason later and that’s why we have this mess today.
I enjoy these Prager U videos so much. 5 minutes, only facts. Nice little refreshers.
Excellent teaching on the difference between a democracy and a republic.
Let’s keep our republic.👍
It actually a vey biased representation. First a republic is one of the forms of democracy. The other major form are constitutional monarchies. Both forms are usually representative democracies where citizens elect people to represent them in whatever legislative system they use. There are no actual pure democracies. The closest is Switzerland where citizens vote 4 times a year on specific bills. But even there, there federal system is typical representative democracy. And even there, the closest country to a pure democracy, Switzerland is a republic.
Uhh...you mean the Republic we DO NOT have?? The U.S. is a FASCIST OLIGARCHY. Try to pay attention sometime.
I learned more watching your videos than I ever did in my entire life in public school.
agreed. scary isn’t it? That in a 5-minute video you can learn so much more than school ever taught you
My junior history teacher had breakdown one evening. It was elective credit; most of the class were seniors and already had graduated, so there were only like three students. The teacher was pretty new to the job, not more than three years. She cried and pleaded with us to make sure our kids wanted to learn, and she lamented how hard it was to reach her students.
There is A LOT wrong with public education, but this sort of knowledge gets repeated from the seventh grade onwards. If you didn't pick it up, that's kind of on you.
Ugh, re-reading that came across as super preachy. I stand by what I said, just regret the way I wrote it.
Because they distill conservative propaganda down into 5 minute clips so that their faithful morons with poor attention spans can actually sit through the entire thing.
@@cm9241 Go take a bath hippy I can smell you from the screen. I’m sure Venezuela, China, and hey.. I hear Afghanistan’s a great place to go to this time of year, they love Americans :) go there. You hate America :) it’s gorgeous values :) you’re free to go thanks to those values :) go on :) leave :) we won’t miss you :) 👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻
Great clarification!
"A republic, if you can keep it."
This is what you call important information.
If you don't like it we know your pathetic political choices. 🤦🏿♂️
I love this, I’ve been saying this for years...we are a constitutional republic!!!!
This is a constitutional republic that is not socialist or communist! It has a reprentative democratic form of government, they used to teach that in elementary school, apparently the moronic teachers doesn't know, they weren't taught that or they were absent the day their teacher talked about it!
When I was in grade school (late 90’s / early 2000’s) we were always told it was a democracy. I to this day wonder why they never taught this in school.
The indoctrination had already begun.
Because public schools have been purposely grooming and indoctrinating students towards socialism and CRT. To do that, they have to eliminate history from the classroom.
A Republic is a form of democracy. A pure democracy would be where everyone voted on every propose bill. Switzerland comes close to that. Generally not a good idea because the positions of the majority are frequently dysfunctional and prejudicial. So electing representatives make sense. Constitutional Monarchies are another form of democracy. They too elect representatives. BTW, 7 of the top ten most democratic countries are Constitutional Monarchies.
@@barryhaley7430 No, a republic is NOT a form of democracy. Except for citizen suffrage, they share little in common. Federalist 10 has a good description of the differences.
* One of the aims of the enemies of this country is to gain control of our education system ( among other things like our media, our politicians, etc. ). You can defeat a country by waging war, or by slowly destroying it from within. Our enemies have been at it for a long time.
I was trying to understand the difference between a republic and a democracy but it wasn't just quite coming together. This crystallized it for me. Thank you.
Such an AMAZING explanation! Great job. Thank you.
I'm surprised ScrewTube hasn't put one of their warning labels on this clip
Well, it's not like the video contains something inherently harmful to viewers to see or hear about.
@@boyboi1855 PragerU is countering the "the US is a democracy " narrative that the communists,,oops, Democrats keep spouting...ScrewTube always follows the communists,oops, Democrats party line...
They actually specifically will not allow you to report this ad, it's almost as if it's not about "who is violating the ToS" but rather "who isn't paying us enough money to ignore the ToS" when CZcams Mods come knocking.
No reason to... they favor conservatism and right wing ideas... just as long as it doesn't promote violence. They censor the left whether or not the left promotes violence. This is a nice video on the topic of CZcams censorship: czcams.com/video/Px6wr3OgnJA/video.html
You can see the effects of censorship against the left on his other video here. Let me know how many buttons you have to press just to start watching the video: czcams.com/video/_2khAmMTAjI/video.html
On the second one... the share button was also removed for the longest time. Just recently got added back in.
Not sure what happened, but this video was gone for some time.
As another commenter pointed out, tyranny can come from dictators, oligarchs, or mob rule. Our system was designed the way it is to spread power out amongst various parts of the government - House, Senate, President - to prevent concentration of power and avoid tyranny.
even now with the most extreme democrats ever controlling house senate and white house, the courts and senate are still able to keep them from doing what they want if that system didn't exist. You see them upset about those safe guards, 9 justices, getting rid of filibuster, getting rid of electoral college. Even the executive over stepping is still getting stopped by the supreme court when congress won't step in.
And yet all that may be for naught in an era where people don't concede their losses and try to overthrow legitimate election results rather than relinquish power.
Amazing how you can have tyranny come from all 3 at once.
Mob rule is all we have in modernity. Get over it. There are two basic mobs, Republicans and Democrats.
This should be played at the Democratic Convention.
AOC needs to watch this video!
If we still said The Pledge of Allegiance in school, maybe more people would know it is a Republic. "And to the Republic for which it stands."
Exactly! That's what I'm saying! 🙋♀️🙋♀️
Outstanding!!!
I am presently in Moscow and I just shared this video with children that don't understand why so many here want to move to the USA.
But I think this country can be what they all want if the people stay the course! Your videos show the way. Considering how far they have already come from the day the Wall came down.
Keep making these short to the point videos, more than the young (and old) of the USA are watching.
God Bless the United States of America 🇺🇸 for all it has done for the world 🌎 God Bless the Citizens of the World.
they should stay there until our nation is fixed . russia is in a better spot than us and holds better values . we need to fix ourselves
I agree. So many countries could be changed for the better if the people are willing to change it.
@@weseecominc2424 Why not just stay in Russia and make improvements _there!_ Russia is a vast country, and has less population.
@@weseecominc2424Yes, we're in a bit of a predicament now but spatiba. Slava Russia.
🤍💙♥️It was also set forth as an experiment and as such, we are experiencing some problems here to say the very least. Keep moving forward, RF, with this American's blessings.
We are crumbling right now. You are doing much better. We have barely been able to tie a knot at the end of the rope to which we are holding on until Biden leaves. It has been a disaster with him as president. If Trump gets in, we will have hope. Otherwise, we will have lost our Republic forever.
I hope we can keep it.
It's not about Political parties anymore... it's about Good vs Evil
I learn more in these 5 minute videos than I have in all my years at school.
Well said, I hope everyone in Government today takes this to heart. 🇺🇸
Every time I hear a politician say something about protecting our democracy, our democracy this or that, I want to throw up. How in the world did we allow these people to be elected to office if they can’t even identify our form of government.
Sounds like we have an oligarchy to me. Nobody feels represented and the country is in an awful state.
I think feel that way. It’s clear we all need more honest representation
Your correct, read Washington's Farewell Address paragraphs 19 to 26. The Founders designed a zero party system and warned of faction parties. Parties are NGO's! Prager is mis-reciting US history and law.
@@PubliusUSA Yes, that is the original hope of the founders. But in truth that one was a bit naive to think humans won’t band together in like minded groups. It actually surprises me they didn’t account for it.
@@paulparker8934 They did account for it by separating powers and dividing venues/jurisdictions, the caucus system, and the electoral college. And, with an 'educated and enlightened populace.' (See Geo Washington's Farewell Address). The founders believed in natural law and the right to assemble was one of those laws. They thought their 'separations and division' would prevent parties/oligarchies from 'consuming the nation from within. '
@@PubliusUSA Indeed, they created a system that accounted for man’s worst attributes and kept power from the hands of the few.
The best argument against Democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
This the danger of a false dichotomy. People like you draw a false conclusion. We are a democracy and that is important. He is careful to use qualifying words. He clearly understands that we are democratic just not pure democracy. But, he still sets up the false dichotomy. It is horrible to deny that we are a democracy. The BS that we are a Republic not a Democracy is one of the stupidest "intellectual" talking points ever.
@@DavidSibley040461 wait...so you're saying the average voter is well informed? I don't think that's going to be hard for me to disprove.
@@DavidSibley040461 Certain democratic processes are likely ideal in a polity but its asinine to say that political franchise should be extended to all adults. At the very least it should be restricted to those with land holdings or comparable assets. Otherwise individuals with no assets will just vote to pay themselves with little regard for the future of the nation. That's what we are seeing now.
@@jamesdodson4659 I didn't say that. Democracy is the best alternative even given the fact some are not well informed.
@@jamesdodson4659 The point is valid. A similar problem is people who don't pay taxes voting to increase taxes on those who do. Again, though, democracy is the best compared to the alternatives
The “founding fathers” of the US were drawing on strong British parliamentary traditions and European enlightenment thinkers. They guarded against mob rule, tyranny of the majority, autocracy, and oligarchy. However, by enshrining so much power to the States, they have made modern federalism very difficult. I live in Australia, where the power of the federal government is much stronger. While not a republic, the uniformity of a constituent parliamentary system works well - without the constant stand off.
“It’s not an oligarchy”
If our country became an oligarchy, would you be able to tell?
Well, yes.
You're using too much internet man.
It's an oligarchy now.
@@Rockhound6165 It's objectively not.
@@maxwell8758 It's VERY much an oligarchy right now. We have political dynasties like the Bush, Clinton and Kennedy families, possibly the Obama's now too. Way too many politicians are holding seats like basically forever. They're in cahoots with big business and special interest groups who give them money for (redacted) RE-ELECTION (unredacted) and the media and Big Tech are covering their asses. Just because you have elections doesn't mean there is no oligarchy. All forms of government are oligarchy. The different forms are just how the ruling elite justifies its rule to the masses. The US was always an oligarchy, all countries end up with a ruling elite, even after the most violent of revolutions a new elite always forms. The only question is to how brazen and open they are about their rule and corruption.
So glad they posted this! I’ve been explaining to people for the last few week why we are not a democracy and the reasons why we don’t want to be
What’s your definition of democracy?
In my fifty (Canadian) years, this is-by far-the best explanation of American government I have ever heard.
EDIT: This is yet another in a growing list of instances that are gradually pushing me towards simulation theory. But not because the explanation or speaker seem suspect. It makes me think simulation because the fact that, in fifty years, no one has been able to do this. It’s a similar phenomenon re Cl9 mandates. It’s not the fall of democracy that was most bizarre. It was watching billions of people be totally cool with it.
My brain simply refuses to accept a reality in which parents gleefully steal democracy from their own children, then brag about it on social media. My own mother, whose father sacrificed his life to stand against “crazy moustache man,” imposed upon her grandchildren, the very thing her father died to protect them from. Please, please let this be a simulation. I’m not sure how much longer I can hang on.
Thank you for the clarity and thanks to our forefathers
To be fair, I have heard many politicians, mainly Democrats, stating we are a democracy. People are likely just following that too. A US History class I took in college said that we are a Constitutional Republic.
The confusion comes from the fact that a Democracy is a Republic. As surprising as it may be, the guy making this video doesn't know what he is talking about.
.....many believe democrat politicians always say “democracy “ to the public.....as a means of influencing poorly educated masses....so when it comes time to vote....they simply read democrat, and vote that person.......
False ! LIES Amon LIARS ! Ignoramuses ! False InDOCtrination, Propaganda !
As stated explicitly in this video by [Professor] Robert George from James Madison within The Federalist Papers [#10], the specific differences between a Republic and Democracy. James Madison détails other significant, vital, critical aspects including issues with factions, parties (which clearly the instituted political parties override the described benefits, thus allow the "Elite" to direct, dictate, control all of the Government, transform it into Governance, Authoritarian control which The Founders all opposed with GB-England King George !)
All The Best, Sincerely
True. And they're ALL wrong! The U.S. is, obviously and provably, a FASCIST OLIGARCHY.
I’m so glad Professor George is back making Prager U videos!
Are you a DEMOCRAT?
@@ReverendDr.Thomas I beg your pardon?
@@Michael-rx7ff See above.☝️
Thank you for this. I always knew we were a republic and not a democracy but I never fully knew how to explain how it was different. This was very well explained.
Thank you I am 82 and never new the difference. Our founders were so clever.
Gee, I learned this in six grade and in Jr and High school civics. Too bad they don’t teach this in school anymore.
because it's a lie, that's why they don't teach it in school.
My son's 8th grade history teacher was teaching the class that we are a democracy...when I informed him of his error he did not believe me!!
These men were clearly thinking when they wrote out the constitution of the United States of America.
They were actually divinely inspired.
@@sluiceman2004 Against their divinely inspired British.
Not really, they wrote a constitution made for 13 States, occupied with less than 5 millions people with an economy based on slavery.
That is what they did.
@@MrOlivier1967 Established the FIRST constitution in the world, wrote the Declaration of Independence(arguably the most important document in human history) that abolished slavery, gave rise to the industrial revolution, the Gilded age, Capitalism, etc.
@@ggefryg They wrote the constitution in 1787, slavery was abolished in 1865 (13th amendment) about one century later. 😉
Nice! That’s the first time someone explained electoral votes that made sense. Thank you.
It's a shame that our children don't know any of this. Thank a teacher.
Loved the educational value of this video commentary. You did a first class job explaining the difference between the two forms of Government. Your Narration was tops delivering a lot of information in a short time.
Ideally we started out as a Republic. But now in practice we are a Oligarchy. And have been for many decades.
YOU can put a stop to this.
These videos are not only highly educational but also incredibly satisfying to watch. "Hola" from Mexico :)
A democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for lunch. In a representative republic, the sheep can get the menu changed.
I studied American Politics at the advanced (postgraduate) level. This is an OUTSTANDING video, much needed.
why have political parties and a president, why not just "government" ?
you are elected to "government" not to a political party.
if states are separate then they are by definition NOT UNITED.
american politics is the worst in the history of this planet.
We are a Constitutional Republic. God Bless America and these United States . One Nation under God.
I like how clear said this is no one on CZcams would explain it any better
Nice to hear someone with a public stage telling the truth about this. I've been preaching this for years, mostly to deaf ears.
An excellent video...one of a kind in which this professor @Princeton University explains the differences between a democracy and a republic. I feel the way the country is going if it were to keep heading that way we would soon be in a communistic state. I feel like that's already starting and this is why you need to vote Republican people!
The more centralized the government becomes, the more the electoral college makes sense.
Really? And how well has that worked out so far. By your own admission the electoral college has failed to stop this
@@redpillsatori3020 I'm from one of the small states that doesn't want New York or California making all the choices for our country. Not sure about you but I prefer knowing that in terms of the electoral college they make it so small middle America states are heard also. 6-7 states should not choose everything for the whole country.
@@littleredridinghood6187 ..true, and I’m not disputing that, nor am I saying the electoral college isn’t better than a direct, popular vote.
What I am saying is that the OP’s comment is nonsense (at least to me) because he’s saying we need the electoral college system to protect us from an ever-more-tyrannical centralized government even though it was this very system that allowed it to come about in the first place, although, I admit, it probably slowed the process compared to having direct elections.
@@redpillsatori3020 Did I say it would stop it?
@@littleredridinghood6187 being born in California does not make you a democrat right out of the womb they gain those values over the course of life it just makes sense for a popular vote
I have to say, very well done on this one PragerU, very well done! Thank you.
A republic by definition is a form of government that has representatives chosen by the people to represent them.Republics formed as opposed to Monarchies.A country can be a dictatorship and also a Republic,in which the representatives for the people are chosen by the ruling party,from the top down.Hence it is probably more accurate to contrast democracy with dictatorship and not Republic.
Democracy: 2 wolves and a sheep arguing over what's for dinner.
Republic: the sheep is armed.
"What form of government do you Americans have?"
Most Americans: "Democracy!!!"
Me: "A Constitutional Republic Federation."
The us is a democracy though. It isn't a pure democracy, but it's a democracy nonetheless.
@@lcs684
...it is a representative republic...
@@gocygo63 it's still a democracy though. Republic and democracy are not opposite ideologies. The opposite of a republic is a monarchy, the opposite of a democracy is dictatorship. You can still be a republic and a democracy (ie. United States) you can also have a monarchy with democracy (ie. United Kingdom). The definition of democracy is the idea that people get to vote who their leader is. That's what the United States is like.
@@lcs684 then the person who won the popular vote would win but they didnt since we have an electoral college! gotcha!
@@GODHATESADOPTION ok. We still vote who our leaders are though. America is still a democracy, just not a pure democracy. If all of the citizens are able to vote who their leader of their country is, that makes it a democracy. That's literally what a democracy is.
There is something quite familiar about this video...
Yes there is it's almost like I saw it before maybe on a monday?
Yeah it doesn’t have any music that causes you to drift off to sleep like left-wing Propaganda
It might be the fact that the original video had the wrong year for the Constitutional Convention (1789 instead of 1787), a fact you still see wrong in the captions.
Wonderful explanation. Can you explain how the states have varying numbers of Representatives instead of a set amount like the Senate?
So glad to see this superb explanation of what I was taught back in elementary and high school(s). It obviously is rarely taught amymore. Thank you !!!
It's naive to think politicians nowadays want what is good for the country.
@Fraudulent President Biden - You certainly got it right about that! After all, politicians of both sides of the U.S. government, and also both sides of the political spectrum, have this mentality for decades and it is very sad that there has been no real changes because of too many disagreements and opposition to certain major policies that either side thinks won't work in the end anyway.
I wish we could make this into a public service announcement and make it mandatory on every TV station in the US. The More You Know …. 😉
You clearly don't know of Murstein's Law. Murstein’s Law holds that ‘the amount of research devoted to a topic in human behaviour is inversely proportional to its importance and interest.’ In other words, the more important it is that the public be informed of a particular fact or facts, the less likely they will be. What intelligent person today would insist out loud that the tyranny of Murstein's Law doesn’t have us all by the throats? We suffered the Vietnam War for twenty years because Murstein’s Law reigned like Genghis Khan. Twenty years after losing that war, the man who drove much of it, Robert McNamara, admitted publicly that he and his colleagues had made a dreadful mistake: the war was a civil war and should have been left as such. He didn’t apologise to the people who risked and lost their lives on university campuses trying to expose Murstein’s Law. Had the facts been allowed to see light, humanity would have been spared that blight in its history. What makes Murstein's Law work is public apathy and stupidity along with a dysfunctional education system. Read John Taylor Gatto on the latter.
“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!” - attributed to Ben Franklin
I saved this message to my watch later list and i forgot about it. I'm glad i stumbled across it. This information is definitely worth knowing. Than you.
In a very old Universal History book I read how Athens, the first democracy, fell because because the very same rules that gave rise to its brilliant politicians also permitted the rise of demagogues more interested in personal gain and obtaining favour of the populace.
In contrast, years later, other old one book I read called the US electoral colleges "a curious and archaic institution" that determines the national votation result instead of universal suffrage.
It wasn't until recent years and after especially the last elections that I at least understood the incredible foresight of the founding fathers and why the US democracy stays strong while another countries had fallen many times despite trying democracy again and again. No doubt, the fathers were men that not only read the classics and know history but also understood the lessons that can be obtained from them.
well, athenian democracy would be by modern standard described as directorial republic.
We're not a democracy, we're a constitutional Republic.
Whenever someone asks me what form of government that the United States government is, I usually respond with it is a federal constitutional representative republic. They inevitably say don't you mean a democracy. I reply no for democracies break down and destroy themselves within a single generation.
Really? What about India, the world's largest democracy?
@@Harsh12351 India is not really a true democracy for they have a Parliament which means that they actually are a representative republic instead.
@@Harsh12351 India is not a democracy either.
@@eugenepiurkowski6026 no I am not wrong for a pure democracy ends up with whoever obtains the largest number of people by percentage totally mutes everyone else, this was what both founding fathers George Washington and John Adams referred to as "a mad dog democracy".
To be fair republics break down quite fast as well, usually into monarchic empires or ruthless oligarcies, I'm not saying democracy is the true form of government, but the republic has its many flaws as well
Thank You, Mr. Knight. Shout this from the mountain tops!
I choose to call myself a republican not for political affiliation but because our founding fathers and MR Lincoln don’t want me to give up
I have never had it explain so well.
It took extreme intelligence and forethought to come up with our form of government. Something the present administration IS SORELY MISSING.
Our founders took a lot of inspiration from the ancient Roman Republic, so our system wasn’t entirely unheard of, but otherwise I agree with you
As the honage to the flag says.... "and to the republic for which it stands" .....
The pledge of allegiance needs to be brought back and recited every morning as it used to be when i was a child.
Is sad, me as immigrant I understand how the US is, than some born people in the country. Thank you founding fathers for creating such a wonderful nation.