Letter: Republic, democracy; potato, po-taw-to

This is response to Kaleb Fisler’s letter denoting the country as a “republic, which is in conflict with a democracy” (Aug. 19). Fisler states that a republic is “a form of government where the citizens elect representatives ... to make laws for them.” A democracy is “a form of government where the citizens make the laws directly with majority rules.”

It is my opinion that Fisler selectively extracted desired context to make a point, while ignoring part of the definition that doesn’t support the position.

Webster’s defines a republic as: b (1): a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law.

It defines a democracy as: a: government by the people; especially rule of the majority; b: a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.”

So, my opinion is there really isn’t a difference between a republic or democracy when reading the whole definition. They both use elected officials to represent the citizens.