text: do you understand that the united states is *not* a democracy (and was never intended to be)? anyone care to explain the difference between "pure democracy" and "republican democracy"?  (and i don't mean "a democracy controlled by republicans!) a pure democracy is where every person gets a say in how every part of the government is run.  like for instance everyone would come together in a town to vote and decide on what would be best for everybody.  it's quite idealistic and can be prone to abuse in this way:  in a democracy, the ones who are largest and loudest have the most power.  therefore a whole people could be wiped out if the majority said "everyone with brown hair must die."  also as times goes on, the democracy deteriorates into a dictatorship as the most power pursuing persons gain more and more power over the others.  a classic example is the deterioration from lenin's communism to stalin's dictatorship later on.  it's the closest thing to a pure democracy that has existed as of late.  as for a democratic republic well that's what we have.  it's democratic because we vote for whose in office.  it's a republic because it has the legislative, judicial, and executive branch.