The Role of the Republic in Government
The republic is a form of government in which the people have an active role in the running of their country. The citizens of a republic elect their leaders, called presidents or prime ministers, and also have the power to vote them out of office when they do not like how the country is being run.<\/p>
Republics and Democracy
Many countries have republican governments, including the United States and France. They are often referred to as democracies because they are governments in which the people choose their own representatives (called presidents or prime ministers).<\/p>
Advantages of Republics
There is a wide debate about whether or not this is true, but it is clear that republics have the advantage of being ruled by the people who live in them. They are more democratic than countries with monarchies or aristocracies, and they have the added benefit of being less likely to become dictatorships and more likely to be able to protect their citizens from the abuses of a tyrannical ruler.<\/p>
Philosophical Perspectives on Republics
Some political philosophers have argued that there is an intelligible connection between the structures of society and the moral and ethical values of individuals. For example, Socrates says in The Republic that the best city is one where the good is unified. In other words, a city that is virtuous and governed by justice will be a good city.<\/p>
Other philosophers argue that there is no such intelligible connection, and the only way to explain what makes a city virtuous is by analogy with other cities or nations. For example, if we imagine a country that is governed by a dictator who rules based on fear and hate, we will not be happy there.<\/p>
The Ideal State and the Perfect Republic
The best solution to this problem, according to Plato and other philosophers, is to look at the republic through the lens of an ideal state. A perfect republic would be a state in which all the citizens have the same rights and are able to make their own decisions about the policies of the state.<\/p>
This type of ideal state was a major theme in the Republic, and it was also a central idea of many other works by Plato, such as Theaetetus and Phaedrus. The Republic is thus a key work in the development of Western philosophy, and it has influenced much later philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato\u2019s student Cicero.<\/p>
The Modern Understanding of Republic
In the modern world, the word \u201crepublic\u201d has gained a wider use in its ability to describe a government that is based on the principles of freedom and justice. This has been especially true during the time of political turmoil in Europe following the collapse of large empires, such as the Russian, German and Austro-Hungarian Empires, which saw a rise in republican revolutions.<\/p>
Although the word \u201crepublic\u201d was originally used to refer only to states that were free from tyrannies, it has since been applied to any country that is not controlled by a monarch or an oligarchy. In fact, the word is still in common use today as a synonym for democracy.<\/p>
