> > Tangent, but there's no real good definition for either term. Some people have it drilled into them in elementary school that "The United States is not a democracy, it's a republic!" and then like to bring it up whenever they can. I would say a democracy is a government in which the will of the people is the driving force behind policy creation, which is a poor definition off the top of my head. Such a definition would make a republic a special type of democracy. But there's no real point in trying to define them too specifically. The term "representative government" is probably better, but I often talk about "democratic principles" as being important in this country.
> >
> I always understood that "democracy" means that (all of) the people choose the government. The form of the democracy varies. In ancient Greece (?), they had a direct democracy, where the people voted directly for the laws. In Canada, we have a Parliamentary democracy, where the people choose representatives to send to the legislature, and the majority in the legislature determines the executive. You know what you have.
>

Pure democracy means that everybody participates directly in the government. That's why we often hear "representative" used with regard to the US.
A republic combines elements of all main forms of government.
1. The President--represents monarchy.
2. The Congress (especially the Senate)--represents oligarchy.
3. Voting and other means of participation--represent democracy.


> > Of course you can't appeal once the highest court has ruled.
>

Actually, in a sense you can appeal by amending the Constitution. Or, although this is very seldom done, Congress can remove something from the Court's jurisdiction. In addition, the infamous Dred Scott decision was overturned by the nation's choice as expressed by the Civil War.