El_Heffe

We are not in disagreement here on the technical definition. I love the concise way you explained all this.

However, almost all of the history of “Democracy” has been technically about Republics. Even the earliest “Democracies” were effectively republics, as they elected “Elders” to conduct the daily business of the state or city. And, today when people say democracy they mean republic according to the technical definition of the words.

Words do matter, but also words have a tendency to take on new meanings as time goes on. This is one of them.

This all still boils down to the need to respect and accept others for the system to work.

That mutual respect is what I intended to focus attention on. And, that is what is missing in societies and cultures which have never experienced it. That ability to accept and respect others views, requires a lot of work to instill in people. Would you not agree?

Cadmus