"> What is a republic but a representative democracy? From the [wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki...) describing a constitutional republic: A constitutional republic is a state where the head of state and other officials are elected as representatives of the people, and *must govern according to existing constitutional law that limits the government's power over citizens*. In a constitutional republic, executive, legislative, and judicial powers are separated into distinct branches *and the will of the majority of the population is tempered by protections for individual rights so that no individual or group has absolute power.*" (my emphasis) >What I meant by my statement "this is the way government should work" was that ideally laws in a state would reflect the will of the people. Do you disagree with that? I disagree that the constitutional rights of an unpopular minority should be subject to the tyranny of the majority, yes. As far as I'm aware,..." - Neil H