Republic

A republic is a state where political power belongs to the public (people). The name comes from the Latin phrase res publica, which means 'public thing' or 'people's thing'. In a republic, the people usually govern through their representatives. This is different from an absolute monarchy or a direct democracy. Most republics are single countries, but subnational state areas with republican governments may also be called republics.

As of 2017, see this list of the world's 206 sovereign states that use the word "republic" in their official names. Not all of them are republics with elected governments. Some countries with elected governments do not use the word "republic" in their names.

The idea of a republic comes from the ancient Roman Republic. It began after the overthrow of the kings in 509 BC. Rome kept calling itself a republic even after the Empire was started in 27 BC.

The Roman constitution was shaped by a Senate made up of wealthy aristocrats, who had a lot of influence. It also had several public assemblies where all free citizens could take part. These assemblies could choose officials and pass laws. There was also a series of magistracies, which were offices that had different kinds of civil and political power.

For the political idea, see Republicanism. For other uses, see Republic (disambiguation).

Etymology

See also: Res publica and Civitas

The word comes from a Latin translation of the Greek word politeia. Cicero and other Latin writers translated it as res publica, which later scholars translated as republic. The Latin can mean 'public matter'. Roman writers used it for the state and its government, even during the Roman Empire.

The Greek word politeia can mean form of government, polity, or regime. It did not always mean one specific type of government. Plato's major book about politics, usually called The Republic in English, was titled Politeia. Aristotle was probably the first to use the word for one particular type of government, in his book Politics. In medieval Northern Italy, city states had commune or signoria governments. In the 1400s, interest in Ancient Rome grew. Writers such as Leonardo Bruni and Machiavelli used res publica to describe states that did not have a king or queen. Later, the English word commonwealth was used as a translation. During The Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, it was the most common word for the new state without a monarch, though republic was also widely used.

Main article: Classical republic

Main article: Gaṇasaṅgha

See also: European wars of religion

See also: People's Republic, Socialist state, and Communist state

Ideas about republics began in classical Greece and Rome. Aristotle noted that there were already many city-states with different systems of government, not only in Greece but also in the Middle East. During the Middle Ages, many free cities, such as Venice, grew strong again. Since the Age of Revolution, the word republic has mostly described countries with a written constitution. In these countries, leaders get their power from the people, not from heredity or divine right. Ancient republics, such as Athens and the Roman Republic, worked very differently from modern ones. Over time, the early republics became empires or were taken over by empires. Republics also appeared in other parts of the world, such as early India and the Icelandic Commonwealth, which was set up in 930 AD and had no single leader.

Later, wealthy trading cities in Italy and parts of Europe became republics, and many people in the Holy Roman Empire and Switzerland also set up republican governments. During the 1600s, some English and Dutch thinkers and leaders supported republics. In the late 1700s, the United States Declaration of Independence clearly rejected monarchy. The French Revolution later led to a republic in France, and many republics appeared across Europe, Latin America, and Asia during the 1800s and 1900s. After World War II, most of the remaining European colonies became independent, and most of them became republics. Some countries, however, kept their monarchs. The Russian Revolution created the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the first republic built on Marxist ideas.

Constitution

A republic does not always have a written constitution, but it is often constitutional. This means it is run by a set of institutions that share power through a separation of powers. The term constitutional republic shows this focus on sharing power. It is like constitutional monarchy and absolute monarchy, which show how much power a king or queen has. In an absolute monarchy, one ruler holds all the power. This is an autocratic system.

Head of state

Most modern republics have no king or queen, so their head of state is usually called a president. The title was first used in Great Britain for the leader of a committee. Later it was given to political leaders, including some of the Thirteen Colonies, starting with Virginia in 1608. The first republic to use the title was the United States of America. The leader of the first congress was the President of the Continental Congress. When the new constitution was written, the title President of the United States was given to the head of the new executive branch. When the head of state is also the head of government, this is called a presidential system. In republics such as Germany, Italy, India, and Trinidad and Tobago, the president has almost no real power. These parliamentary republics work a bit like kingdoms with parliamentary systems, where the prime minister has the most real political power. Semi-presidential systems have both an active president and a prime minister with important powers. In France, when the cabinet and the president come from opposing political groups, this is called cohabitation. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, San Marino, and Switzerland, a group of several people shares the job of head of state. The Roman Republic had two consuls, who were chosen for one-year terms by the comitia centuriata. This group included all adult men who were born free and could prove they were citizens.

In democracies, presidents are chosen by the people, either directly or through representatives. In the United States, the president is officially chosen by an electoral college, whose members are picked by the states. Some people believe that direct elections give a president legitimacy and much of their political power. However, the United States Constitution based the president's legitimacy on nine states signing it. In practice, the United States presidential election works much like a direct election, but with weighted voting that gives extra influence to the smallest states. In parliamentary systems, the parliament usually chooses the president. This gives the president limited legitimacy, and most presidential powers become reserve powers used only in rare situations. Ireland is one example where elected presidents have only ceremonial powers. The line between republics and monarchies is not always clear. In constitutional monarchies, elected representatives hold almost all real political power, so some of these countries are called crowned republics. Some countries that call themselves republics, such as North Korea and the former Ba'athist Syria, have been ruled by one family, with power passed from father to son, even though neither is or was officially a monarchy. Some elective monarchies also exist. In Malaysia, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is chosen every five years by the Conference of Rulers, which is made up of the nine hereditary rulers of the Malay states. In the Vatican City-State, the pope is chosen by cardinals under the age of 80. Elective monarchs were common in the past. In the Holy Roman Empire, for example, each new emperor was chosen by a group of electors. Some Islamic states also rarely used primogeniture, relying instead on different forms of election. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had an elective monarchy under the Golden Liberty system. Its supporters called it a rzeczpospolita, based on res publica.

Sub-national republics

Being a republic also usually means that a state is sovereign. This means a state ruled by its people cannot be controlled by a foreign power. The republics of the Soviet Union were member states that had to meet three conditions. They had to be on the edge of the country, so they could leave if they wanted. They had to be strong enough to support themselves if they left. And they had to be named after at least one million people of the main ethnic group living there. Some people say the Soviet Union was also a kind of republic made up of different nation states. The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had six republics. Each had its own parliament, government, citizenship, and constitution. But some things, such as the army and money, were handled by the federation. Each republic also had a right to self-determination, according to the conclusions of the second session of the AVNOJ and the federal constitution.

In Switzerland, all cantons can be seen as having a republican form of government. Each has its own constitution, legislature, executive, and courts. Many of them were once independent states. So several Romance-speaking cantons are still officially called republics. This shows their history and their wish for independence within the Swiss Confederation. Examples include the Republic and Canton of Geneva and the Republic and Canton of Ticino. In the United States, states must be republics in form, like the federal government, with the people holding final power. This was needed because the states make and enforce most local laws. It also helps protect citizens' rights and keeps a state from becoming a dictatorship or monarchy. The original 13 British colonies became independent states after the American Revolution. Each had a republican form of government. They first formed a loose confederation. Later, they adopted the current U.S. Constitution, creating a union that was a republic. Any state that joined later also had to be a republic.

Other meanings

Before the 1600s, the word "republic" could be used for almost any state that was not a tyranny. French philosopher Jean Bodin described a republic as a well-ordered government of many families and their shared concerns, run by a sovereign power. In medieval times, the Holy Roman Empire was also called the Holy Roman Republic, and the Byzantine Empire called itself the Roman Republic. In the late 1700s, revolutionary groups such as the Jacobins and Jeffersonians began linking "republic" mainly with democracy. Later, James Madison linked it with representative government. In the United States, the term is often treated as the same as "representative democracy." It is also used to describe a state or government in a positive way.

The idea of a republic as a state without a king came from writers of the Renaissance. Their ideas became the basis of classical republicanism or civic humanism. This idea was based on the Roman Republic and the city states of Ancient Greece. It focuses on civic virtue, the rule of law, and mixed government. The United States Constitution uses the term "republic" and promises every state a republican form of government. However, what exactly this should mean is not clear.