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Belarus, Urania, Hungary and Russia are only a partial list of countries that are having trouble !$%*!$%*! to what republic/democracy means. Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and the three "Baltic States" (among others) seem to be doing better. But the health of the democracy that concerns me the most is in the U.S. of A. Corporations have inalienable rights? Popularity contests for President every four years? That is neither democracy nor republic... but this isn't supposed to be a political blog, so never mind.
A republic is a form of government when the public elects individuals to represent their interests. A democracy is where everyone votes for their interests. The only true democracy that existed was in Athens, as far as I am aware. The fact that it was limited to a select group is irrelevant; what matters is that they did not vote for people to represent them. My comment was a reflection of that common misunderstanding.
As for why I said that about Eastern Europe...I don't remember why I said that. I think because I have many friends from there that complain that it hasn't improved any since the iron curtain fell. However, yes, you are correct. They no longer have totalitarian governments. Except for Russia.
Revloki.. oh, and I forgot to mention, most of eastern europe are today democracies.. you know, the iron-curtain fell.. I'm not saying "all of europe", but yes, most of it.
RevLoki *Facepalm*.. "Today, the majority of democratic countries in the world are republics" (http://www.democracy-building.info/definition-democracy.html)
Okay, I admit you don't have a democracy (the voting on the last elections can't stand scruteny as no one cared to investigate whether the proven rigged election machine was a one-time deal or if all others were rigged too), but a true republic is most likely a democracy.. democracy is not really a specific kind of govern, but rather the idea that voting should play a roll. (and newer definitions of the term include the idea that the idea of getting everyones vote MUST include the "commoner", but really.. "democracy" in it's original form were limited to the aristocracy)
