Republic or Democracy and the ideals of freedom

What percentage of Americans know the difference between a republic and a democracy.  We pledge allegiance to the flag and to the republic for which it stands.  Politicians ofter refer to our country as a democracy.  What is our country?  The founders made it clear that we are a REPUBLIC.  So lets try and understand the difference.

We might do well to first ask ourselves again what the purpose of government is.  What is the purpose of government?   If you read the Declaration of Independence it is to protect our unalienable rights.  The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness among them.  It is based on the idea that all men (people) are created equal.  To not have their rights infringed upon.  The government should get its "just" powers from the consent of the governed.  

"The Constitution was written to protect the rights of individuals and limit the powers of government. In other words, it was intended to preserve liberty. Not only did the Founders not intend for public policy to be determined democratically, they actively tried to design their new government to prevent public policy from being directed by the demands of its citizens. They recognized that liberty could be compromised by democracy, and that the will of the majority had the potential to be just as tyrannical as a king or dictator."

The government has no power that that an individual does not have other than those enumerated and granted to it by law.  That law is the constitution so long as we uphold it and the politicians follow it.  To say that a republic and a democracy are similar in every aspect except one can be explained as follows.  In a republic the sovereignty is in each individual.  In a democracy the sovereignty is in the group. 

Where a true democracy is the government there are no representatives.  Democracy means power of the people.  The idea is that at least politically all people be equal.   Each with a voice and a vote.  The problem with this type of system is that the people generally lack at least one and most often several things.  Knowledge of the problems, understanding of the problems, time to think about the problems and time to do something about the problems. The principle shortcomings of a democracy are that it lacks safeguards for the rights of the individual and it lends itself to "mob rule".  The rights of the minority are over ruled by any majority that might develop.

This is can be the case with elected representatives in a republic.  When the people see this happening they must vote them out.  Another point of truth is that many people just don't care about anything outside of their own pursuits until they are seriously disrupted.  The reason for havin a representative form of government is so that the citizens can pursue their creative capacities to benefit themselves and their fellow human beings and not be burdened with the responsibilities of carrying out the protection of their rights.   If they fail to monitor their elected officials they will eventually find themselves without those rights being protected.

When the founders set about to define government to protect the rights endowed by our creator they had studied all systems of government and knew something of the consequences of the various types.  History was studied and debated.  Debates today center on equality for everyone that thinks they are not being treated equally and many laws have been passed to try and create such a state.  These laws are however for the most part infringing on the freedom of others and violate natural laws of opportunity, ambition or morality.

The aim of the Founding Fathers was to allow freedom to be protected.   The idea of a republic is to allow all citizens to have an interest and say in the affairs of government.  In a democracy where the  majority is half plus one there is greater potential for mood swings.  Once a majority develops it gains power over the rest of the people and rights are soon disregarded.

To stop the infringement on the rights of individuals requires a constitution that dictates the order of the government with checks and balances in itself and ultimate authority resting with the people by their power to vote.  The purpose of a republic is to control the majority and protect those rights of any minority which are supported by justice and natural law.

Often the terms of democracy, democratic republic, representative democracy, republic and empire have been used in describing governments yet did not have the elements necessary to be classified as such.  The general lack of understanding of these terms makes it easy for politicians to  use the term "democracy" and not be corrected as few study the system of government our republic was intended to be.