We explain what a republic is, its characteristics, types and examples. Also, its relationship with democracy and the monarchy.
What is a republic?
A republic is a form of government and organization of the State in which Political power, and in particular the head of the State, is exercised by representatives of the people. This means that the government is carried out by individuals elected by the citizens and subject to a body of fundamental laws, equal for all (that is, a Constitution), within the framework of a separation of powers.
The word “republic” comes from the Latin term res publica“the public thing” with which the Romans referred to the sphere of public interests, the common good or the State. The term res publica It was used for the first time in the era known as the Roman Republic, which began in 509 BC. C., when the monarchy ended.
At that time, the republic was a partial form of democracy in which initially an aristocracy (the patricians) occupied the seats of the Roman Senate and within this social group two consuls were elected who governed and commanded the army. The consuls were elected by the vote of all the free male citizens of Rome (both patricians and those who were not part of the aristocracy, the plebeians), gathered in an assembly called Comitia centuriata in which they were organized according to their level of wealth. From the 4th century BC. C., the Senate and the position of consul also began to be occupied by plebeians.
However, what is understood today as a republic differs from ancient usage, and generally refers to the rule of law sustained in a Constitution, to the direct or indirect election of the head of State and representatives in the legislative branch and to the separation of public powers. In that sense, the existence of the republic is contrary to the monopolization of political power by a single person, as occurs in autocracies, or to the lifetime and hereditary appointment of the highest public positions, as occurs in monarchies (even when, Nowadays, many monarchies give the king a more symbolic than political position).
The republic is a regime of government and organization of the State based on democratic institutions and liberal principles, in which All citizens are equal before the law and elect their representatives through direct or indirect voting. since sovereignty resides in the people. This idea of a republic arose after the French Revolution of 1789, when in 1792 the monarchy was abolished and the First French Republic was established. Previously, a republican regime had been established in the United States, after declaring its independence from the British Crown in 1776 and writing its Constitution in 1787. Even so, there is a certain margin of ambiguity around the use of the term, so it depends on the point of considered view.
Key points
- A republic is a form of government in which sovereignty resides in the people, who exercise political power only through their representatives.
- It is governed by a Constitution that usually guarantees the separation of powers (executive, legislative, judicial) and the equality of citizens before the law.
- There are different types of republics: democratic or authoritarian, presidential, semi-presidential or parliamentary, unitary or federal, and secular, non-denominational or confessional.
- Unlike monarchies, republics do not have hereditary offices, although some parliamentary monarchies share democratic characteristics with republics.
- See also: Democratic government
Characteristics of a republic
In general, a republic has the following characteristics:
- The head of state and other political authorities are elected by the citizens through direct or indirect suffrage, under the principle of popular sovereignty. Any citizen who meets the constitutional requirements can aspire to run as a candidate.
- The organization of the State, the functions of the government and the rights and duties of citizens are enshrined in a Constitution, that is, a fundamental law that determines the freedoms of individuals and the limits of political power.
- The balance between the institutions of the State is sustained by the division or separation of powers, which distinguishes between the executive power (government and execution of laws), the legislative power (promulgation of laws) and the judicial power (administration of justice). ).
- The political participation of citizens is more or less active, that is, they not only have the right to vote but also the possibility of taking part in political activity, whether formally or through mobilizations, complaints, participation in public debate or even the presentation of bills.
- Citizen representation in the State tends to include different voices, since it is considered that the institutions of the State are led by representatives of the people (elected through direct or indirect suffrage). The system of separation of powers allows the executive branch not to concentrate all political power and for the legislative branch to bring together representatives of various political parties.
- Freedom and equality before the law are fundamental rights for citizens, and the public and private spheres are separated and have their respective regulatory frameworks, which guarantees the free exercise of individual rights against any possible abuse of power. by the State authorities.
Types of republic
There are different ways to classify republics:
According to their degree of respect for democratic values
- democratic republics in which the authorities are elected through the direct or indirect vote of the citizens. Human rights and fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution are generally guaranteed.
- Authoritarian republics in which power is exercised unilaterally by a leader or a political faction, which controls institutions and violates democratic practices. They can be one-party republics, in which there is only one political party permitted by law, which is the one that exercises power.
According to the way in which the executive branch is constituted
- presidential republics in which executive power is in the hands of a president elected by popular vote.
- parliamentary republics in which executive power is exercised by a prime minister chosen by the legislative branch (that is, Parliament, whose representatives are elected by popular vote), and its functions are largely subject to this parliamentary institution.
- Semi-presidential republics in which a president is elected by popular vote but also a prime minister who must be accountable to Parliament, and with whom the president must share power. It is known as the two-headed system.
According to the territorial organization of the State
- Unitary or centralist republics in which the country is directed by a central government, which makes decisions that affect the entire territory, with regional delegations or emissaries designated from the center or local governments subordinate to the central government.
- Federal or federative republics in which the territory of the country is the sum of the territories of different smaller states, which associate to govern themselves in a common way through a federal government under the federation system, although they maintain their own governments and constitutions.
According to the role that religion has in the government and administration of the State
- secular republics in which the Church or other religious institutions have no political power and the government does not offer any public aid to religious organizations. The State has no official religion and there is freedom of worship.
- Non-denominational republics in which the State does not have an official religion nor is subject to any religious authority but provides financing and establishes agreements with some religious institutions.
- confessional republics in which the State has an official religion and the institutions of said religious creed exercise variable political influence. In some cases, this influence may be merely formal, but in other cases the separation between religion and the state simply does not exist, as is the case in theocracies (in which political authority derives directly from religious power).
Examples of republic
Currently there are many republics, since most of the nations in the world are governed by this system. Some significant examples are:
- The French Republic of a unitary and semi-presidential type, is one of the oldest republics in Europe, although it went through stages of interruption of the republican order since its first proclamation in 1792, which is why it is currently known as the Fifth Republic.
- The United States of America federal and presidential in nature, was constitutionally organized as a republic in 1787. It is currently made up of fifty states and one federal district.
- The Russian Federation federal and semi-presidential, is made up of 83 federal entities (although recently, within the framework of the territorial conflict with Ukraine, another six that are not recognized by the international community were incorporated).
- The Federal Republic of Germany federal and parliamentary, is made up of sixteen federated states since it was unified with the German Democratic Republic in 1990.
- The Islamic Republic of Iran of a confessional or theocratic type (it is based on Shiite Islam), unitary and presidential, was born with the triumph of the Iranian Revolution in 1979.
- The Federative Republic of Brazil federal and presidential in nature, is made up of twenty-six states and a federal district.
- The United Mexican States federal and presidential in nature, is made up of 31 sovereign states and Mexico City.
- The Republic of India federal and parliamentary, is made up of twenty-eight states and eight union territories.
- The Arab Republic of Egypt of a unitary and semi-presidential type, is subdivided into twenty-seven governorates.
Republic and democracy
In principle, Talking about a republic is not the same as talking about democracy. despite the fact that, currently, both terms are often taken as synonyms.
In general, the difference between one and the other has to do with the following: the republic is a form of State administration that is based on the principles of separation of powers, constitutional order and political representation, that is, on it Citizens elect the head of state and members of Parliament through popular vote. For its part, Democracy is a method of organizing the political system generally adopted by republics, which is based on the premise of government by the people, who can exercise said power directly (for example, through assemblies) or through representatives (mainly through suffrage).
Since the beginning of the Contemporary Age, The idea of the republic began to be associated with what today is called liberal or representative democracy. (the people elect their representatives in a system of separation of powers) as opposed to direct democracy (citizens participate directly in deliberating and voting on political decisions, generally through assemblies, which is usually considered possible only in small spaces ).
However, also There are authoritarian republics that do not respect the fundamental principles of liberal democracy such as political freedom, free elections, multi-party system, respect for human rights or even the separation of public powers.
For example, most of the socialist republics that existed in the 20th century were built according to the Soviet republican model, that is, based on the direct representation of the working people in different committees integrated into a bureaucratic structure. However, in practice these republics were characterized by being one-party, that is, they did not allow any type of political participation outside the official party that exercised power. In this way, all institutions were controlled by the same elite and, therefore, there was no true democracy but rather a concentration of power in a single party (as happens in some current communist regimes).
On the other hand, Parliamentary and constitutional monarchies are often democratic regimes, despite not being republics.. Indeed, the head of the State is formally the king but executive power is actually exercised by a prime minister or president of the government arising from the direct or indirect popular vote, generally through the election of representatives to Parliament. Furthermore, they tend to respect various principles that are associated with democratic values and that are also present in democratic republics, such as respect for the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution and the separation of powers.
- Democracy
Republic and monarchy
Tensions between republic and monarchy have existed since ancient times.. A particularly clear example is the history of Ancient Rome, when the monarchy was replaced by the republican system in 509 BC. C. and, since then, mechanisms were sought to prevent the republican order from being replaced by something similar to a new monarchy, as some interpret that happened when the history of the Roman Empire began in 27 BC. c.
In the Modern Age, thinkers such as Nicolás Machiavelli (1469-1527) and Montesquieu (1689-1755) stated that the difference between a monarchy and a republic was that In a monarchy, laws are an expression of the will of the king. who organizes the State from above, while In the republic the laws are an expression of the popular will which organizes the political order from below, through the action of citizens who put the common good before their particular interest.
In the current sense, The main difference between one system of government and another lies in the existence or not of a monarch that is, a political position for life, hereditary and that is not designated by any democratic body, such as popular vote. Kings, queens, sultans and other similar names correspond to leaders of monarchies that are contrary to the republican order.
However, In contemporary parliamentary and constitutional monarchies, the monarch often does not govern and the executive power is exercised by a prime minister or a president of the government, generally elected by the representatives of the citizens who make up the legislative branch (Parliament). Therefore, these monarchical regimes usually have characteristics compatible with the democratic aspects of republics.