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  27. <title>So a republic is a type of democracy ... &lt;https://y.st./en/weblog/2017/04-April/14.xhtml&gt;</title>
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  65. <header>
  66. <h1>So a republic is a type of democracy ...</h1>
  67. <p>Day 00769: Friday, 2017 April 14</p>
  68. </header>
  69. <section id="general">
  70. <h2>General news</h2>
  71. <p>
  72. At work today, one group of customers came through drive-through with a cat on their dashboard.
  73. The cat kept trying to jump out the window, but the driver kept blocking the path.
  74. It was a little amusing to watch.
  75. </p>
  76. <p>
  77. Every day, we have a few customers that skip the menu board and head straight to our pick-up window.
  78. Since I&apos;ve started waiting for them to actually read that our drive-through is like any other and they need to go to the menu board like everyone else, their menu board skipping has become uneventful.
  79. It&apos;s sad that I can&apos;t meet them at the window and let them know what to do next time, but a few of them complain if I do that.
  80. So since the head manager won&apos;t stand behind me, but still wants me to get the customers to use the menu board, I&apos;m stuck wasting their time until they notice their mistake and correct it themselves.
  81. Anyway ... one customer today was a little different.
  82. After waiting at the window for a period, they, instead of reading the sign on the window, decided that the problem must be that our old drive-through bell hadn&apos;t been rung.
  83. The run-over tube for it lies along the side of the building where it won&apos;t be triggered, so they pulled it out and drove over it.
  84. Long pause.
  85. Then they finally figured out to use the menu board.
  86. I somewhat suspect that they might&apos;ve even read the sign as they got out to move the tube, but that they really didn&apos;t want to go back to the menu board.
  87. For some reason, many of our customers are resistant to the change for some reason.
  88. In any case, as they left, I went back out to put the tube back in place.
  89. We don&apos;t use that any more.
  90. Also, apparently, back when it <strong>*was*</strong> in use, the sound of the bell going off haunted the dreams of one of my shift leaders.
  91. We don&apos;t want that to happen again needlessly.
  92. </p>
  93. <p>
  94. My <a href="/a/canary.txt">canary</a> still sings the tune of freedom and transparency.
  95. </p>
  96. </section>
  97. <section id="university">
  98. <h2>University life</h2>
  99. <p>
  100. As I was reading my assigned text, I found the author claiming that the United Kingdom is a democracy in which they choose politicians to rule over them.
  101. I was certain that wasn&apos;t a democracy, but a republic, like what we have here in the States.
  102. Before I submitted any coursework saying as much though, I had to be sure.
  103. I looked it up on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org./wiki/Republic">Wikipedia</a>. The Wikipedia article had this to say:
  104. </p>
  105. <blockquote cite="https://en.wikipedia.org./wiki/Republic">
  106. <p>
  107. In American English, the definition of a republic can also refer specifically to a government in which elected individuals represent the citizen body, known elsewhere as a representative democracy (a democratic republic), and exercise power according to the rule of law (a constitutional republic).
  108. </p>
  109. </blockquote>
  110. <p>
  111. In other words, we here in the United States are rolling our own definition of a word.
  112. Again.
  113. Lame.
  114. We need to quit doing that, it just makes things confusing.
  115. That said, I&apos;m failing to grasp the differences between republics and democracies.
  116. According to Wikipedia:
  117. </p>
  118. <blockquote cite="https://en.wikipedia.org./wiki/Republic">
  119. <p>
  120. A republic (Latin: res publica) is a form of government in which the country is considered a &quot;public matter&quot; - not the private concern or property of the rulers - and where offices of state are elected or appointed, rather than inherited.
  121. </p>
  122. </blockquote>
  123. <p>
  124. Also:
  125. </p>
  126. <blockquote cite="https://en.wikipedia.org./wiki/Democracy">
  127. <p>
  128. Democracy (Greek: δημοκρατία, Dēmokratía literally &quot;rule of the commoners&quot;), in modern usage, is a system of government in which the citizens exercise power directly or elect representatives from among themselves to form a governing body, such as a parliament.
  129. </p>
  130. </blockquote>
  131. <p>
  132. A republic has elected leaders, while a democracy either has elected leaders or citizens participate directly.
  133. In a republic, the country is considered a public matter.
  134. In a democracy, the citizens are in control.
  135. These two seem interchangeable.
  136. If the running of the country is a public matter, the citizens are in control, and if the citizens are in control, the running of the country is a public matter.
  137. The only difference I&apos;m seeing is that a democracy doesn&apos;t always have to elect leaders.
  138. In some democracies, citizens have more direct power.
  139. So is are republics a subclass of democracies?
  140. Oops, I guess I should&apos;ve read <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org./wiki/Democracy#Republic">further</a>.
  141. </p>
  142. <blockquote cite="https://en.wikipedia.org./wiki/Democracy#Republic">
  143. <p>
  144. The term republic has many different meanings, but today often refers to a representative democracy with an elected head of state, such as a president, serving for a limited term, in contrast to states with a hereditary monarch as a head of state, even if these states also are representative democracies with an elected or appointed head of government such as a prime minister.
  145. </p>
  146. </blockquote>
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