# This is a republic, not a democracy!--what's the deal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 21, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-republic-not-a-democracy-whats-the-deal/641761 "2012-11-21T19:39:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-republic-not-a-democracy-whats-the-deal/641761/61 "2012-11-25T22:47:54Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > This is an extremely US-centric view. Slavery was ended throughout the British Empire by a combination of court cases, local legislation (eg - Upper Canada’s abolition of slavery in 1791) and a series of measures passed by the British Parliament for the Empire as a whole. Slavery may have been ended in those countries, but it didn’t become completely nonviable until it was ended in the U.S. It ultimately did come down to a war, even if some countries saw the inevitability of such a war and were smart enough to prevent it via democracy. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-republic-not-a-democracy-whats-the-deal/641761/62 "2012-11-26T05:07:56Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Canada doesn’t have an inherited ruler … From the [_Constitution Act, 1867_](http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/Const/page-1.html): > [@](#): > > WHEREAS the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick have expressed their Desire to be federally united into One Dominion under the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with a Constitution similar in Principle to that of the United Kingdom: > > … > > **Declaration of Executive Power in the Queen > 9.** The Executive Government and Authority of and over Canada is hereby declared to continue and be vested in the Queen. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-republic-not-a-democracy-whats-the-deal/641761/63 "2012-11-26T08:20:30Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Slavery may have been ended in those countries, but it didn’t become completely nonviable until it was ended in the U.S. [Ey](http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/06/the-country-where-slavery-is-still-normal/241148/)? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-republic-not-a-democracy-whats-the-deal/641761/64 "2012-11-26T09:13:13Z")
I’ve always just assumed that the assertion made in the thread title is just one of those “fun facts” that people throw around to make themselves sound smart but doesn’t actually mean anything, like “Virginia is a COMMONWEALTH, not a state!”, or “People only use 10% of their brains!” ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-republic-not-a-democracy-whats-the-deal/641761/65 "2012-11-26T10:19:29Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > “Virginia is a COMMONWEALTH, not a state!”, or “People only use 10% of their brains!” As stated, these are both simply incorrect. The one about Virginia is a bit closer to being accurate, but it’s still not really factual. As for the rest of your post, I think there’s usually more of a political ideology behind it, as opposed to it being a politically-neutral factoid. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-republic-not-a-democracy-whats-the-deal/641761/66 "2012-11-26T13:33:16Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > As stated, these are both simply incorrect. The one about Virginia is a bit closer to being accurate, but it’s still not really factual. > > As for the rest of your post, I think there’s usually more of a political ideology behind it, as opposed to it being a politically-neutral factoid. No, the first one is true – Virginia _does_ call itself the _XCommonwealth_ of Virginia, not the _state_ of Virginia. So, for that matter, to Massachusetts, kenrucky, and Pennsylvania. It means as much as Rhode Island calling itself “The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations”. For practical purposes, as even the commonwealths agree, they are the same as those lowly states. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-republic-not-a-democracy-whats-the-deal/641761/67 "2012-11-26T19:22:12Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Shut up! It’s an empire, not a democracy! Ah, but a reasonably democratic empire, with elections, and rule of law, and all that good stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-republic-not-a-democracy-whats-the-deal/641761/68 "2012-11-26T19:40:20Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > No, the first one is true It said that Virginia is not a state. Virginia damned well _is_ a state, as we’ve demonstrated multiple times over this exact issue. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-republic-not-a-democracy-whats-the-deal/641761/69 "2012-11-27T08:06:53Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > It said that Virginia is not a state. Virginia damned well _is_ a state, as we’ve demonstrated multiple times over this exact issue. I think you’re not really in any disagreement on this issue. No-one in this thread thinks Virginia is a state, just as no-one thinks that the US does not qualify as a democracy (at least in the binary formation given in the thread title or when compared to other countries accepted to be democracies). Another thing to note is that “crowned republic” sounds utterly foreign to me as a UK resident. I suppose it’s a term of art like “unentrenched Constitution” that doesn’t really translate across the Atlantic. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-republic-not-a-democracy-whats-the-deal/641761/70 "2012-11-27T13:22:30Z")
> [@](#): > > think you’re not really in any disagreement on this issue. No-one in this thread thinks Virginia is a state I think you left out a “not” in that statement. The whole argument about “Virginia is not a state it’s a Commonwealth” is like that one about the hunter and the squirrel both going around a tree – pretty pointless. Everyone understands what the other one is sying, but the argument stems from a pretty insignificant choice of definition. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-republic-not-a-democracy-whats-the-deal/641761.md?page=3)