alt Hacker NewsIsn't this some extreme distortion of semantics though? Going by the majority usage of those words, "democracy" and "republic" mean different but not incompatible things and the claim that America isn't a country is just baffling.
Isn't this some extreme distortion of semantics though? Going by the majority usage of those words, "democracy" and "republic" mean different but not incompatible things and the claim that America isn't a country is just baffling.
Yeah, republic doesn't really mean much these days (in the common definition and applied to contemporary countries).
North Korea is officially a republic, but it's closer to a hereditary, absolutist monarchy in practice. The UK is officially a constitutional monarchy, but in practice not all that much would change, if they demoted the royal family.