# What is left for voters to do when politicians ignore their demands?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-left-for-voters-to-do-when-politicians-ignore-their-demands/577866>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [April 10, 2011, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-left-for-voters-to-do-when-politicians-ignore-their-demands/577866 "2011-04-10T13:59:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-left-for-voters-to-do-when-politicians-ignore-their-demands/577866/81 "2011-04-25T15:13:24Z")

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> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#):
>
> There’s always a next election.  
> The reality of politics is also that a President can’t do everything he wants to do or promised to do. No President ever has or ever will. The US a Republic, not a democracy. You’re voting for the person to make decisions on your behalf, not to implement your will. There’s no such thing as a mandate.

I agree with everything you say, except this:

> [@](#):
>
> The US a Republic, not a democracy.

It’s a meaningless slogan. The United States is both a democracy and a republic. It’s a democratic republic and it is a republican democracy. The term “democracy” does not imply any particular institutional structure or method of translating the public will to policy. It’s merely the ideal of rule by the consent of the public.

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