the Republic expanded not through force, but by quietly exerting a strong magnetic pull towards neighboring systems. Modern republics are founded on the idea that sovereignty rests with the people, though who is included and excluded from the category of the people has varied across history. Cicero, among other Latin writers, translated politeia as res publica and it was in turn translated by Renaissance scholars as "republic" (or similar terms in various western European languages). Villages had their own assemblies under their local chiefs called Gramakas. This understanding of a republic as a distinct form of government from a liberal democracy is one of the main theses of the Cambridge School of historical analysis. Please note: Text within images is not translated, some features may not work properly after translation, and the translation may not accurately convey the intended meaning. The first republic to adopt the title was the United States of America. [31] Early "republics" or gaṇa sangha,[32] such as Mallas, centered in the city of Kusinagara, and the Vajji (or Vriji) confederation, centered in the city of Vaishali, existed as early as the 6th century BC and persisted in some areas until the 4th century AD. To share with more than one person, separate addresses with a comma. Another name for this type of democracy is a democratic republic. 2. a political or national unit possessing such a form of government. In many states no direct elections were held and council members were hereditary or appointed by the existing council. Italy was the most densely populated area of Europe, and also one with the weakest central government. There are important exceptions to this, for example, republics in the Soviet Union were member states which had to meet three criteria to be named republics: It is sometimes argued that the former Soviet Union was also a supra-national republic, based on the claim that the member states were different nation states. ↑ At the end of World War II Germany was divided into West Germany and East Germany.This date shows the start of the Federal Republic of Germany, although the area of former East Germany was no … The assembly met regularly. The people were divided into three classes — citizens, metics, and slaves. The term republic does not appear in the Declaration of Independence, but it does appear in Article IV of the Constitution, which "guarantee[s] to every State in this Union a Republican form of Government." There was a citizen body in which reposed the authority of the state. The word republic comes from the Latin term res publica, which literally means "public thing", "public matter", or "public affair" and was used to refer to the state as a whole. This left the great majority of the population without political power, and riots and revolts by the lower classes were common. In England James Harrington, Algernon Sidney, and John Milton became some of the first writers to argue for rejecting monarchy and embracing a republican form of government. However, both also felt that a state like France, with 20 million people, would be impossible to govern as a republic. Some countries call themselves republics simply because a monarch (a king or a queen) is not the leader. How to use republic in a sentence. Dictionary.com. It was embraced by many national liberation movements during decolonization. Over time, the classical republics were either conquered by empires or became ones themselves. Only after the Flight to Varennes removed most of the remaining sympathy for the king was a republic declared and Louis XVI sent to the guillotine. Any state joining the union later was also required to be a republic. Under his leadership the Republic of China was proclaimed on January 1, 1912. The most important Roman work in this tradition is Cicero's De re publica. A full-presidential system has a president with substantial authority and a central political role. The term can quite literally be translated as "public matter". The monarch coordinated his activities with the assembly; in some states, he did so with a council of other nobles. The modern type of "republic" itself is different from any type of state found in the classical world. Most often a republic is a single sovereign state, but there are also sub-sovereign state entities that are referred to as republics, or that have governments that are described as republican in nature. The people give power to leaders they elect to represent them and serve their interests. Since the origin of Republic it has evolved tremendously and spread across many nations through the ages. [10][23][24] In Africa the Axum Empire was organized as a confederation ruled similarly to a royal republic. [6], The term politeia can be translated as form of government, polity, or regime and is therefore not always a word for a specific type of regime as the modern word republic is. However, in practice some nominal republics are actually dictatorships, such as the Russian Soviet Republic … The repartimiento system did nothing to improve the lot of the Indians, and the Spanish crown changed it by instituting the system of encomienda in 1503. [64] These ideas were embraced by a number of different writers, including Quentin Skinner, Philip Pettit[65] and Cass Sunstein. Rousseau admired the republican experiment in Corsica (1755–1769) and described his ideal political structure of small, self-governing communes. It's Time To End The Electoral College", "1593. republic. A republic is a form of government in which the people elect, or choose, their leaders. Originally used to refer to the presiding officer of a committee or governing body in Great Britain the usage was also applied to political leaders, including the leaders of some of the Thirteen Colonies (originally Virginia in 1608); in full, the "President of the Council". [25] Similarly the Igbo nation in what is now Nigeria. [9], While Bruni and Machiavelli used the term to describe the states of Northern Italy, which were not monarchies, the term res publica has a set of interrelated meanings in the original Latin. When the new constitution was written the title of President of the United States was conferred on the head of the new executive branch. Notable examples are the Republic and Canton of Geneva and the Republic and Canton of Ticino. The country’s area includes several smaller islands offshore the … Writers such as Bartholomew of Lucca, Brunetto Latini, Marsilius of Padua, and Leonardo Bruni saw the medieval city-states as heirs to the legacy of Greece and Rome. Contrary to most states, the Icelandic Commonwealth had no official leader. Diagram of the Federal Government and American Union, the first constitutional republic. J. G. A. Pocock has argued that a distinct republican tradition stretches from the classical world to the present. The primary positions of power within a republic are attained through democracy or a mix of democracy with oligarchy or autocracy rather than being unalterably occupied by any given family lineage or group. [10] It was most often used by Roman writers to refer to the state and government, even during the period of the Roman Empire.[11]. Republican ideas were spreading, especially in Asia. At least in some states, attendance was open to all free men. There are also elective monarchies where ultimate power is vested in a monarch, but the monarch is chosen by some manner of election. This meaning was widely adopted early in the history of the United States, including in Noah Webster's dictionary of 1828. During the Dutch Revolt (beginning in 1566), the Dutch Republic emerged from rejection of Spanish Habsburg rule. The primary enemies of the Romans at that time … Semi-presidential systems have a president as an active head of state with important powers, but they also have a prime minister as a head of government with important powers. Also amongst classical Latin, the term "republic" can be used in a general way to refer to any regime, or in a specific way to refer to governments which work for the public good. Directly elected by popular vote to a five-year term, the president, who is also the head of state, appoints a prime minister, who heads the government and advises the president on the appointment of other members of the government. The terminology changed in the 15th century as the renewed interest in the writings of Ancient Rome caused writers to prefer using classical terminology. With modern republicanism, it has become the opposing form of government to a monarchy and therefore a modern republic has no monarch as head of state.[2][3][4]. Modern states present themselves as democratic republics governed by a constitution. In United States v. Cruikshank (1875), the court ruled that the "equal rights of citizens" were inherent to the idea of a republic. The constitutional monarchies of the former British Empire and Western Europe today have almost all real political power vested in the elected representatives, with the monarchs only holding either theoretical powers, no powers or rarely used reserve powers. The failure of the British monarch to protect the colonies from what they considered the infringement of their rights to representative government, the monarch's branding of those requesting redress as traitors, and his support for sending combat troops to demonstrate authority resulted in widespread perception of the British monarchy as tyrannical. Arab socialism contributed to a series of revolts and coups that saw the monarchies of Egypt, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen ousted. Knud Haakonssen has noted that, by the Renaissance, Europe was divided with those states controlled by a landed elite being monarchies and those controlled by a commercial elite being republics.[12].