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{{Short description|Form of government}}
{{About|the form of government|the political ideology|Republicanism|other uses}}
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{{Basic Forms of government}}

A '''republic''', based on the [[Latin]] phrase ''[[res publica]]'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a [[State (polity)|state]] in which [[Power (social and political)|political power]] rests with the [[public]] ([[people]]), typically through their <!-- Do not change this to say that a republic is a form of government where _elected_ representatives of the people hold power. "Republic" in the classical sense means a country that isn't a monarchy.--> [[Representative assembly|representatives]]—in contrast to a [[monarchy]].<ref name="OED">{{Cite web|title=Republic {{!}} Definition of Republic by the Oxford English Dictionary|url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/163158|access-date=2022-05-10|website=Oxford English Dictionary|language=en|quote=A state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy. Also: a government, or system of government, of such a state; a period of government of this type. The term is often (especially in the 18th and 19th centuries) taken to imply a state with a democratic or representative constitution and without a hereditary nobility, but more recently it has also been used of autocratic or dictatorial states not ruled by a monarch. It is now chiefly used to denote any non-monarchical state headed by an elected or appointed president.}}</ref><ref name="M-W">{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/republic|title=Definition of Republic|website=Merriam-Webster Dictionary|language=en-US|access-date=2017-02-18|quote=a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch}}</ref> Although a republic is most often a single [[sovereign state]], [[subnational state]] entities that have governments that are republican in nature may be referred to as republics.

Representation in a republic may or may not be freely elected by the general citizenry. In many historical republics, representation has been based on personal status and the role of elections has been limited. This remains true today; among the [[List of countries by system of government|159]] states that use ''republic'' in their official names {{as of|2017|lc=y}}, and other states formally constituted as republics, are states that narrowly constrain both the right of representation and the process of election.

The term developed its modern meaning in reference to the constitution of the ancient [[Roman Republic]], lasting from the [[Overthrow of the Roman monarchy|overthrow of the kings]] in 509 [[Anno Domini|BC]] to the establishment of the [[Roman Empire|Empire]] in 27 BC. This [[Constitution of the Roman Republic|constitution]] was characterized by a [[Roman Senate|Senate]] composed of wealthy [[Aristocracy|aristocrats]] wielding significant influence; several popular [[Roman assemblies|assemblies]] of all free citizens, possessing the power to elect magistrates from the populace and pass laws; and a [[Cursus honorum|series of magistracies]] with varying types of civil and political authority.

== Etymology ==
{{See also|Res publica|Civitas}}
[[File:Bust of Cicero (1st-cent. BC) - Palazzo Nuovo - Musei Capitolini - Rome 2016.jpg|thumb|Sculpture of [[Cicero]]]]

The term originates from the Latin translation of [[Greek language|Greek]] word ''[[politeia]]''. [[Cicero]], among other Latin writers, translated ''politeia'' into Latin as ''[[res publica]]'', and it was in turn translated by Renaissance scholars as ''republic'' (or similar terms in various European languages).<ref>{{cite web |title=Republic |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/republic |website=Merriam Webster |publisher=Merrium-Webster Inc. |access-date=5 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cullen |first1=Daniel |title=Republics |journal=The Encyclopedia of Political Thought |date=2014 |pages=3243–3248 |doi=10.1002/9781118474396.wbept0887 |isbn=9781118474396}}</ref> The term can literally be translated as 'public matter'.<ref name=Ideas2099>"Republic"j, ''New Dictionary of the History of Ideas''. Ed. [[Maryanne Cline Horowitz]]. Vol. 5. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2005. p. 2099</ref> It was used by Roman writers to refer to the state and government, even during the period of the [[Roman Empire]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Lewis|first1=Charlton T.|first2=Charles |last2=Short |title=res, II.K|encyclopedia=[[A Latin Dictionary]]|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=1879|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dres|access-date=August 14, 2010}}</ref>

The term ''politeia'' can be translated as [[government|form of government]], [[polity]], or [[regime]], and it does not necessarily imply any specific type of regime as the modern word ''republic'' sometimes does. One of [[Plato]]'s major works on political philosophy, usually known in English as ''[[The Republic (Plato)|The Republic]]'',  was titled ''Politeia''. However, apart from the title, modern translations  are generally used.<ref>[[Allan Bloom|Bloom, Allan]]. ''The Republic''. Basic Books, 1991. pp. 439–40</ref> [[Aristotle]] was apparently the first classical writer to state that the term ''politeia'' can be used to refer more specifically to one type of ''politeia'', asserting in Book III of his ''[[Politics (Aristotle)|Politics]]'': "When the citizens at large govern for the public good, it is called by the name common to all governments (''to koinon onoma pasōn tōn politeiōn''), government (''politeia'')". In later Latin works the term ''republic'' can also be used in a general way to refer to any regime, or to refer specifically to governments which work for the public good.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/political-science-and-government/political-science-terms-and-concepts/republic|title=Republic {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|website=www.encyclopedia.com|language=en|access-date=2018-10-20}}</ref>

In medieval [[Northern Italy]], a number of city states had [[Medieval commune|commune]] or [[signoria]] based governments. In the late Middle Ages, writers such as [[Giovanni Villani]] described these states using terms such as ''libertas populi'', a free people. The terminology changed in the 15th century as the renewed interest in the writings of [[Ancient Rome]] caused writers to prefer classical terminology. To describe non-monarchical states, writers (most importantly, [[Leonardo Bruni]]) adopted the Latin phrase ''[[res publica]]''.<ref>Rubinstein, Nicolai. "Machiavelli and Florentine Republican Experience" in ''Machiavelli and Republicanism'' Cambridge University Press, 1993.</ref>

While Bruni and [[Machiavelli]] used the term to describe the states of Northern Italy, which were not monarchies, the term ''res publica'' has a set of interrelated meanings in the original Latin. In subsequent centuries, the English word ''[[commonwealth]]'' came to be used as a translation of ''res publica'', and its use in English was comparable to how the Romans used the term ''res publica''.<ref name=Haakonssen>Haakonssen, Knud. "Republicanism". ''A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy''. Robert E. Goodin and Philip Pettit. eds. Cambridge: Blackwell, 1995.</ref> Notably, during [[The Protectorate]] of [[Oliver Cromwell]] the word ''commonwealth'' was the most common term to call the new monarchless state, but the word ''republic'' was also in common use.<ref name=Kingsxxiii>{{Harvcoltxt|Everdell|2000}} p. xxiii.</ref>

== History ==
While the philosophical terminology developed in [[classical Greece]] and [[Roman Republic|Rome]], as already noted by [[Aristotle]] there was already a long history of city states with a wide variety of constitutions, not only in Greece but also in the [[Middle East]]. After the classical period, during the [[Middle Ages]], many free cities developed again, such as [[Republic of Venice|Venice]].

Since the [[Age of Revolution]] the term ''republic'' has described a system of government in which the source of authority for the government is a constitution<ref name="Munro"/> and the legitimacy of its officials derives from the consent of the people rather than [[heredity]] or [[divine right of kings|divine right]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Paine |first1=Thomas |title=Common Sense |chapter=On the Origin and Design of Government in General, With Concise Remarks on the English Constitution |date=1776 |url=https://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch4s4.html}}</ref>
=== Classical republics ===
{{Main|Classical republic}}
[[File:Republica Romana.svg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|A map of the [[Roman Republic]] in 45 BC]]

The modern type of republic itself is different from any type of state found in the classical world.<ref>Nippel, Wilfried. "Ancient and Modern Republicanism". ''The Invention of the Modern Republic'' ed. Biancamaria Fontana. Cambridge University Press, 1994 p. 6</ref><ref>Reno, Jeffrey. "republic". ''International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences'' p. 184</ref> Nevertheless, there are a number of states of the [[classical era]] that are today still called republics. This includes ancient [[Classical Athens|Athens]] and the [[Roman Republic]]. While the structure and governance of these states was different from that of any modern republic, there is debate about the extent to which classical, medieval, and modern republics form a historical continuum. [[J. G. A. Pocock]] has argued that a distinct republican tradition stretches from the classical world to the present.<ref name="Ideas2099"/><ref name=Pocock>Pocock, J.G.A. ''The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition'' (1975; new ed. 2003)</ref> Other scholars disagree.<ref name="Ideas2099"/> Paul Rahe, for instance, argues that the classical republics had a form of government with few links to those in any modern country.<ref name=Rahe>Paul A. Rahe, ''Republics, Ancient and Modern'', three volumes, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1994.</ref>

The political philosophy of the classical republics has influenced republican thought throughout the subsequent centuries. Philosophers and politicians advocating republics, such as [[Niccolò Machiavelli|Machiavelli]], [[Montesquieu]], [[John Adams|Adams]], and [[James Madison|Madison]], relied heavily on classical Greek and Roman sources which described various types of regimes.

[[Aristotle]]'s ''[[Politics (Aristotle)|Politics]]'' discusses various forms of government. One form Aristotle named ''politeia'', which consisted of a mixture of the other forms, [[oligarchy]] and [[democracy]]. He argued that this was one of the ideal forms of government. [[Polybius]] expanded on many of these ideas, again focusing on the idea of [[mixed government]] and differentiated basic forms of government between "benign" [[monarchy]], [[aristocracy]], and democracy, and the "malignant" [[tyranny]], oligarchy, and [[ochlocracy]]. The most important Roman work in this tradition is Cicero's ''[[De re publica]]''.

Over time, the classical republics became empires or were conquered by empires. Most of the Greek republics were annexed to the [[Macedonian Empire]] of [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]]. The Roman Republic expanded dramatically,  conquering the other states of the Mediterranean that could be considered republics, such as [[Carthage]]. The Roman Republic itself then became the Roman Empire.

=== Other ancient republics ===
The term ''republic'' is not commonly used to refer to pre-classical city-states, especially if outside Europe and the area which was under Graeco-Roman influence.<ref name="Ideas2099"/> However some early states outside Europe had governments that are sometimes today considered similar to republics.

In the [[ancient Near East]], a number of cities of the [[Eastern Mediterranean]] achieved collective rule. Republic city-states flourished in [[Phoenicia]] along the [[Levant]]ine coast starting from the 11th century BC. In ancient Phoenicia, the concept of [[Shophet]] was very similar to a [[Consul|Roman consul]]. Under [[Persia|Persian rule]] (539–332 BC), Phoenician city-states such as [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]] abolished the king system and adopted "a system of the [[Shophet|suffetes]] (judges), who remained in power for short mandates of 6 years".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jidejian |first1=Nina |title=TYRE Through The Ages (3rd ed.) |date=2018 |publisher=Beirut: Librairie Orientale |isbn=9789953171050 |pages=57–99}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Medlej |first1=Youmna Jazzar |last2=Medlej |first2=Joumana |title=Tyre and its history |date=2010 |publisher=Beirut: Anis Commercial Printing Press s.a.l. |isbn=978-9953-0-1849-2 |pages=1–30}}</ref> [[Arwad]] has been cited as one of the earliest known examples of a republic, in which the people, rather than a monarch, are described as sovereign.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Bernal | first1=M. | last2=Moore | first2=D.C. | title=Black Athena Writes Back: Martin Bernal Responds to His Critics | publisher=Duke University Press | series=History / Classics | year=2001 | isbn=978-0-8223-2717-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BcZuf-piTMwC | pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=BcZuf-piTMwC&pg=PA356 356]-[https://books.google.com/books?id=BcZuf-piTMwC&dq=monarch&pg=PA357 357]}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date= February 2018}} The [[Israelite]] confederation of the era of the [[Biblical judges|Judges]]<ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = Clarke
 | first1 = Adam
 | author-link1 = Adam Clarke
 | chapter = PREFACE To The BOOK OF JUDGES
 | title = The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments: The Text Printed from the Most Correct Copies of the Present Authorized Translation Including the Marginal Readings and Parallel Texts with a Commentary and Critical Notes Designed as a Help to a Better Understanding of the Sacred Writings
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=a-Q8AAAAYAAJ
 | volume = 2
 | location = New-York
 | publisher = N. Bangs and J. Emory
 | date = 1825
 | page = 3
 | access-date = 10 June 2019
 | quote = The persons called Judges [...] were the heads or chiefs of the Israelites who governed the Hebrew Republic from the days of Moses and Joshua, till the time of Saul.
}}
</ref>
before the [[United Monarchy]] has also been considered a type of republic.<ref name="Ideas2099"/><ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = Everdell
 | first1 = William Romeyn
 | author-link1 = William Everdell
 | year = 1983
 | chapter = Samuel and Solon: The Origins of the Republic in Tribalism
 | title = The End of Kings: A History of Republics and Republicans
 | url = https://archive.org/details/endofkingshistor00ever
 | url-access = registration
 | edition = 2
 | location = Chicago
 | publisher = University of Chicago Press
 | publication-date = 2000
 | page = [https://archive.org/details/endofkingshistor00ever/page/18 18]
 | isbn = 9780226224824
 | access-date = 10 June 2019
 | quote = [...] Samuel [...] has the distinction of being the first self-conscious republican in his society of whom we have nearly contemporary written record and of whose actual existence we can be reasonably sure.
}}
</ref><ref name="William R. Everdell 2000">{{Harvcoltxt|Everdell|2000}}</ref> The system of government of the [[Igbo people#Traditional society|Igbo people]] in what is now [[Nigerian history|Nigeria]] has been described as "direct and participatory democracy".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Nwauwa |first1=Apollos O. |title=Concepts of Democracy and Democratization in Africa Revisited |url=http://upress.kent.edu/Nieman/Concepts_of_Democracy.htm |access-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120814023812/http://upress.kent.edu/Nieman/Concepts_of_Democracy.htm |archive-date=14 August 2012}}</ref>

===Indian subcontinent===
{{main|Gaṇasaṅgha}}
Early republican institutions come from the independent [[Gaṇasaṅgha|{{transliteration|sa|gaṇasaṅgha}}]]s{{Mdash}}[[gana|{{transliteration|sa|gaṇa}}]] means 'tribe' and [[sangha|{{transliteration|sa|saṅgha}}]] means 'assembly'{{Mdash}}which may have existed as early as the 6th century BC and persisted in some areas until the 4th century AD in India. The evidence for this is scattered, however, and no pure historical source exists for that period. [[Diodorus]], a Greek historian who wrote two centuries after the time of [[Alexander the Great]]'s invasion of India (now Pakistan and northwest India) mentions, without offering any detail, that independent and democratic states existed in India.<ref>Diodorus 2.39{{full citation|date=December 2024}}</ref> Modern scholars note the word ''democracy'' at the time of the 3rd century BC and later suffered from degradation and could mean any autonomous state, no matter how aristocratic in nature.<ref>Larsen, 1973, pp. 45–46{{full citation|date=December 2024}}</ref><ref>de Sainte, 2006, pp. 321–3{{full citation|date=December 2024}}</ref>

[[File:Mahajanapadas (c. 500 BCE).png|right|250px|thumb|The [[Mahajanapadas]] were the sixteen most powerful and vast kingdoms and republics of the era; there were also a number of smaller kingdoms stretching the length and breadth of [[Ancient India]]. Among the mahajanapadas and smaller states, the [[Shakya]]s, [[Koliya]]s, [[Malla (tribe)|Mallaka]]s, and [[Licchavi (tribe)|Licchavi]]s followed republican government.]]
Key characteristics of the {{transliteration|sa|gaṇa}} seem to include a ''gaṇa mukhya'' (chief), and a deliberative assembly. The assembly met regularly. It discussed all major state decisions. At least in some states, attendance was open to all free men. This body also had full financial, administrative, and judicial authority. Other officers, who rarely receive any mention, obeyed the decisions of the assembly. Elected by the {{transliteration|sa|gaṇa}}, the chief apparently always belonged to a family of the noble class of ''[[Kshatriya]] [[Varna (Hinduism)|Varna]]''. The chief coordinated his activities with the assembly; in some states, he did so with a council of other nobles.<ref>Robinson, 1997, p. 22{{full citation|date=December 2024}}</ref> The [[Licchavi (tribe)|Licchavis]] had a primary governing body of 7,077 ''gaṇa mukhyas'', the heads of the most important families. On the other hand, the [[Shakya]]s, [[Koliya]]s, [[Malla (tribe)|Mallaka]]s, and [[Licchavi (tribe)|Licchavi]]s,{{Clarify|reason=There seems to be an apparent nonsequitur with the previous sentence regarding the Licchavis.|date=August 2023}} during the period around [[Gautama Buddha]], had the assembly open to all men, rich and poor.<ref>Robinson, 1997, p. 23{{full citation|date=December 2024}}</ref> Early republics or [[Gaṇasaṅgha|{{transliteration|sa|gaṇasaṅgha}}]],<ref name=Thapar>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-5irrXX0apQC&pg=PA147 |title=Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300|last=Thapar|first=Romila|author-link=Romila Thapar|year=2002|publisher=University of California|pages=146–150|access-date=28 October 2013|isbn=9780520242258}}</ref> such as Mallakas, centered in the city of [[Kusinagara]], and the [[Vajjika League|Vajjika]] (or Vṛjika) League, centered in the city of [[Vaishali (ancient city)|Vaishali]], existed as early as the 6th century BC and persisted in some areas until the 4th century AD.<ref>Raychaudhuri Hemchandra (1972), ''Political History of Ancient India'', Calcutta: University of Calcutta, p.107</ref> The most famous clan amongst the ruling confederate clans of the Vajji [[Mahajanapadas|Mahajanapada]] were the Licchavis.<ref>{{cite book|title=Republics in ancient India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zcoUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA93|publisher=Brill Archive|pages=93–|id=GGKEY:HYY6LT5CFT0}}</ref> The [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Empire of Magadha]] included republican communities such as the community of Rajakumara. Villages had their own assemblies under their local chiefs called ''gramakas''. Their administrations were divided into executive, judicial, and military functions.

Scholars differ over how best to describe these governments, and the vague, sporadic quality of the evidence allows for wide disagreements. Some emphasize the central role of the assemblies and thus tout them as democracies; other scholars focus on the upper-class domination of the leadership and possible control of the assembly and see an [[aristocracy]].<ref name="Bongard">Bongard-Levin, 1996, pp. 61–106</ref><ref name="Sharma">Sharma 1968, pp. 109–22</ref> Despite the assembly's obvious power, it has not yet been established whether the composition and participation were truly popular. This is reflected in the ''[[Arthashastra]]'', an ancient handbook for monarchs on how to rule efficiently. It contains a chapter on how to deal with the {{transliteration|sa|saṅgha}}''s'', which includes injunctions on manipulating the noble leaders, yet it does not mention how to influence the mass of the citizens, indicating that the {{transliteration|sa|gaṇasaṅgha}} are more of an aristocratic republic, than democracy.<ref>Trautmann T. R., ''Kautilya and the Arthashastra'', Leiden 1971</ref>

=== Icelandic Commonwealth ===
The Icelandic Commonwealth was established in 930 AD by refugees from [[Norway]] who had fled the unification of that country under King [[Harald Fairhair]]. The Commonwealth consisted of a number of clans run by chieftains, and the [[Althing]] was a combination of parliament and supreme court where disputes appealed from lower courts were settled, laws were decided, and decisions of national importance were taken. One such example was the [[Christianisation of Iceland]] in 1000, where the Althing decreed that all Icelanders must be baptized into Christianity, and forbade celebration of pagan rituals. Contrary to most states, the Icelandic Commonwealth had no official leader.

In the early 13th century, the [[Age of the Sturlungs]], the Commonwealth began to suffer from long conflicts between warring clans. This, combined with pressure from the Norwegian king [[Haakon IV of Norway|Haakon IV]] for the Icelanders to rejoin the Norwegian "family", led the Icelandic chieftains to accept Haakon IV as king by the signing of the ''Gamli sáttmáli'' ("[[Old Covenant (Iceland)|Old Covenant]]") in 1262. This effectively brought the Commonwealth to an end. The Althing, however, is still Iceland's parliament, almost 800 years later.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iceland-free-speech-20110403,0,5332545.story | work=Los Angeles Times | first=Henry | last=Chu | title=Iceland seeks to become sanctuary for free speech | date=April 2, 2011}}</ref>

=== Mercantile republics ===
[[File:Giambattista Tiepolo - Venezia riceve l'omaggio di Nettuno - 1745-50.jpg|thumb|[[Giovanni Battista Tiepolo]], ''[[Neptune (mythology)|Neptune]] offers the wealth of the sea to Venice'', 1748–1750. This painting is an allegory of the power of the [[Republic of Venice]].]]

In Europe new republics appeared in the late Middle Ages when a number of small states embraced republican systems of government. These were generally small, but wealthy, trading states, like the Mediterranean [[maritime republics]] and the [[Hanseatic League]], in which the merchant class had risen to prominence. Knud Haakonssen has noted that, by the [[Italian Renaissance|Renaissance]], Europe was divided with those states controlled by a landed elite being monarchies and those controlled by a commercial elite being republics.<ref name=Haakonssen />

Italy was the most densely populated area of Europe, and also one with the weakest central government. Many of the towns thus gained considerable independence and adopted commune forms of government. Completely free of feudal control, the Italian city-states expanded, gaining control of the rural hinterland.{{sfn|Finer|1999|pp=950-955}} The two most powerful were the [[Republic of Venice]] and its rival the [[Republic of Genoa]]. Each were large trading ports, and further expanded by using naval power to control large parts of the Mediterranean. It was in Italy that an ideology advocating for republics first developed. Writers such as [[Bartholomew of Lucca]], [[Brunetto Latini]], [[Marsilius of Padua]], and Leonardo Bruni saw the medieval city-states as heirs to the legacy of Greece and Rome.

Across Europe a wealthy merchant class developed in the important trading cities. Despite their wealth they had little power in the [[feudalism|feudal system]] dominated by the rural land owners, and across Europe began to advocate for their own privileges and powers. The more centralized states, such as France and England, granted limited city charters.

[[File:Commencement république messine Auguste Migette 1862.jpg|thumb|left|''Beginning of the Republic of [[Metz]]. Election of the first Head-Alderman'' in 1289, by Auguste Migette. [[Metz]] was then a [[free imperial city]] of the [[Holy Roman Emperor]].]]

In the more loosely governed [[Holy Roman Empire]], 51 of the largest towns became [[free imperial city|free imperial cities]]. While still under the dominion of the [[Holy Roman Emperor]] most power was held locally and many adopted republican forms of government.{{sfn|Finer|1999|pp=950-955}} The same rights to imperial immediacy were secured by the major trading cities of Switzerland. The towns and villages of alpine [[Switzerland]] had, courtesy of geography, also been largely excluded from central control. Unlike Italy and Germany, much of the rural area was thus not controlled by feudal barons, but by independent farmers who also used communal forms of government. When the [[Habsburgs]] tried to reassert control over the region both rural farmers and town merchants joined the rebellion. The [[Swiss people|Swiss]] were victorious, and the [[Swiss Confederacy]] was proclaimed, and Switzerland has retained a republican form of government to the present.<ref name="William R. Everdell 2000"/>

Two Russian cities with a powerful merchant class—[[Novgorod Republic|Novgorod]] and [[Pskov Republic|Pskov]]—also adopted republican forms of government in 12th and 13th centuries, respectively, which ended when the republics were conquered by [[Grand Duchy of Moscow|Muscovy]]/[[Tsardom of Russia|Russia]] at the end of 15th – beginning of 16th century.<ref>Ferdinand Joseph Maria Feldbrugge. ''Law in Medieval Russia'', IDC Publishers, 2009</ref>

Following the collapse of the [[Seljuk Sultanate of Rum]] and establishment of the [[Turkey|Turkish]] [[Anatolian Beyliks]], the [[Ahiler]] merchant fraternities established a state centered on [[Ankara]] that is sometimes compared to the Italian mercantile republics.

The dominant form of government for these early republics was control by a limited council of elite [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patricians]]. In those areas that held elections, property qualifications or guild membership limited both who could vote and who could run. In many states no direct elections were held and council members were hereditary or appointed by the existing council. This left the great majority of the population without political power, and riots and revolts by the lower classes were common. The late Middle Ages saw more than 200 such risings in the towns of the Holy Roman Empire.{{sfn|Finer|1999|pp=955-956}} Similar revolts occurred in Italy, notably the [[Ciompi Revolt]] in Florence.

=== Calvinist republics ===
{{see also|European wars of religion}}
While the classical writers had been the primary ideological source for the republics of Italy, in Northern Europe, the [[Protestant Reformation]] would be used as justification for establishing new republics.{{sfn|Finer|1999|p=1020}} Most important was [[Calvinist]] theology, which developed in the Swiss Confederacy, one of the largest and most powerful of the medieval republics. [[John Calvin]] did not call for the abolition of monarchy, but he advanced the doctrine that the faithful had the duty to overthrow irreligious monarchs.<ref>"Republicanism". ''Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment'' p. 435</ref> Advocacy for republics appeared in the writings of the [[Huguenots]] during the [[French Wars of Religion]].<ref>"Introduction". ''Republicanism: a Shared European Heritage''. By Martin van Gelderen and Quentin Skinner. Cambridge University Press, 2002 p. 1</ref>

Calvinism played an important role in the republican revolts in England and the Netherlands. Like the city-states of Italy and the Hanseatic League, both were important trading centres, with a large merchant class prospering from the trade with the New World. Large parts of the population of both areas also embraced Calvinism. During the [[Dutch Revolt]] (beginning in 1566), the [[Dutch Republic]] emerged from rejection of [[Habsburg Spain|Spanish Habsburg]] rule. However, the country did not adopt the republican form of government immediately: in the formal declaration of independence ([[Act of Abjuration]], 1581), the throne of [[Philip II of Spain|king Philip]] was only declared vacant, and the Dutch magistrates asked the [[Francis, Duke of Anjou|Duke of Anjou]], queen [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth of England]] and prince [[William the Silent|William of Orange]], one after another, to replace Philip. It took until 1588 before the [[The Estates|Estates]] (the ''Staten'', the representative assembly at the time) decided to vest the sovereignty of the country in themselves.

In 1641 the [[English Civil War]] began. Spearheaded by the [[Puritans]] and funded by the merchants of London, the revolt was a success, and [[Charles I of England|King Charles I]] was executed. In England [[James Harrington (author)|James Harrington]], [[Algernon Sidney]], and [[John Milton]] became some of the first writers to argue for rejecting monarchy and embracing a republican form of government. The [[English Commonwealth]] was short-lived, and the monarchy was soon restored. The Dutch Republic continued in name until 1795, but by the mid-18th century the [[stadtholder]] had become a ''de facto'' monarch. Calvinists were also some of the earliest settlers of the British and Dutch colonies of North America.

=== Liberal republics ===
{{multiple image
| align = right
| direction = vertical
| width = 200
| header = Liberal republics in early modern Europe
| image1 = Place de la République - Marianne.jpg
| caption1 = An allegory of the French Republic in Paris
| image2 = Flag of the Septinsular Republic.svg
| caption2 = [[Septinsular Republic]] flag from the early 1800s
| image3 = Upprop för republik 1848.jpg
| caption3 = A revolutionary Republican hand-written bill from the Stockholm riots during the [[Revolutions of 1848]], reading: "Dethrone [[Oscar I of Sweden|Oscar]] he is not fit to be a king: Long live the Republic! The Reform! down with the Royal house, long live {{lang|sv|[[Aftonbladet]]|italic=no}}! death to the king / Republic Republic the People. Brunkeberg this evening". The writer's identity is unknown.
}}
Along with these initial republican revolts, [[early modern Europe]] also saw a great increase in monarchical power. The era of [[absolute monarchy]] replaced the limited and decentralized monarchies that had existed in most of the Middle Ages. It also saw a reaction against the total control of the monarch as a series of writers created the ideology known as [[liberalism]].

Most of these [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] thinkers were far more interested in ideas of [[constitutional monarchy]] than in republics. The [[The Protectorate|Cromwell regime]] had discredited republicanism, and most thinkers felt that republics ended in either [[anarchy]] or [[dictatorship|tyranny]].<ref>"Republicanism". ''Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment'' p. 431</ref> Thus philosophers like [[Voltaire]] opposed absolutism while at the same time being strongly pro-monarchy.

[[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] and [[Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu|Montesquieu]] praised republics, and looked on the city-states of Greece as a model. However, both also felt that a state like France, with 20 million people, would be impossible to govern as a republic. Rousseau admired the [[Corsican Republic|republican experiment in Corsica]] (1755–1769) and described his ideal political structure of small, self-governing communes. Montesquieu felt that a city-state should ideally be a republic, but maintained that a limited monarchy was better suited to a state with a larger territory.

The [[American Revolution]] began as a rejection only of the authority of the [[Parliament of Great Britain|British Parliament]] over the colonies, not of the monarchy. The failure of the British monarch to protect the colonies from what they considered the infringement of [[Rights of Englishmen|their rights to representative government]], the monarch's branding of those requesting redress as traitors, and his support for sending combat troops to demonstrate authority resulted in widespread perception of the British monarchy as [[tyranny|tyrannical]].

With the [[United States Declaration of Independence]] the leaders of the revolt firmly rejected the monarchy and embraced republicanism. The leaders of the revolution were well-versed in the writings of the French liberal thinkers, and also in the history of the classical republics. [[John Adams]] had notably written a book on republics throughout history. In addition, the widely distributed and popularly read-aloud tract ''[[Common Sense (pamphlet)|Common Sense]]'', by [[Thomas Paine]], succinctly and eloquently laid out the case for republican ideals and independence to the larger public. The [[Constitution of the United States]], which went into effect in 1789, created a relatively strong [[federal republic]] to replace the relatively weak [[confederation]] under the first attempt at a national government with the [[Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union]] ratified in 1781. The first ten amendments to the Constitution called the [[United States Bill of Rights]], guaranteed certain [[natural rights]] fundamental to republican ideals that justified the Revolution.

The [[French Revolution]] was also not republican at its outset. Only after the [[Flight to Varennes]] removed most of the remaining sympathy for the king was a republic declared and [[Louis XVI of France|Louis XVI]] sent to the guillotine. The stunning success of France in the [[French Revolutionary Wars]] saw republics spread by force of arms across much of Europe as a series of [[French client republic|client republics]] were set up across the continent. The rise of [[Napoleon]] saw the end of the [[French First Republic]] and her [[Sister Republic]]s, each replaced by "[[Popular monarchy|popular monarchies]]". Throughout the Napoleonic period, the victors extinguished many of the oldest republics on the continent, including the [[Republic of Venice]], the [[Republic of Genoa]], and the [[Dutch Republic]]. They were eventually transformed into monarchies or absorbed into neighboring monarchies.

Outside Europe, another group of republics was created as the [[Napoleonic Wars]] allowed the states of Latin America to gain their independence. Liberal ideology had only a limited impact on these new republics. The main impetus was the local European-descended [[Creole class|Creole]] population in conflict with the [[Peninsulares]]—governors sent from overseas. The majority of the population in most of Latin America was of either African or [[Amerindian]] descent, and the Creole elite had little interest in giving these groups power and broad-based [[popular sovereignty]]. [[Simón Bolívar]], both the main instigator of the revolts and one of its most important theorists, was sympathetic to liberal ideals but felt that Latin America lacked the social cohesion for such a system to function and advocated [[autocracy]] as necessary.

In Mexico, this autocracy briefly took the form of a monarchy in the [[First Mexican Empire]]. Due to the [[Peninsular War]], the Portuguese court was relocated to Brazil in 1808. Brazil gained [[independence]] as a monarchy on September 7, 1822, and the [[Empire of Brazil]] lasted until 1889. In many other Latin American states various forms of autocratic republic existed until most were liberalized at the end of the 20th century.<ref>"Latin American Republicanism" New Dictionary of the History of Ideas. Ed. Maryanne Cline Horowitz. Vol. 5. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2005.</ref>
{|style="float:center; clear:left; margin: 10px; border: 1px #CCCCCC solid; background:#F9F9F9"
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| align="center" |[[File:Europe 1815 monarchies versus republics.png|180px]]
| align="center" |[[File:Europe 1914 monarchies versus republics.png|180px]]
| align="center" |[[File:Europe 1930 monarchies versus republics.png|180px]]
| align="center" |[[File:Europe 1950 monarchies versus republics.png|180px]]
| align="center" |[[File:Europe 2015 monarchies versus republics.png|180px]]
|-
|align=left|<small>[[List of sovereign states in 1815|European states in 1815]]<ref>The [[Ottoman Empire]] and [[Russian Empire]] are counted amongst [[Europe]]. Counted as republics are the [[Restoration and Regeneration in Switzerland|Swiss Confederation]], the [[Free City of Hamburg|Free Cities of Hamburg]], [[Free City of Bremen|Bremen]], [[Free City of Lübeck|Lübeck]] and [[Free City of Frankfurt|Frankfurt]], the [[San Marino|Most Serene Republic of San Marino]], the [[Republic of Cospaia]], the [[Septinsular Republic]] and the [[German Confederation]]; however, member states of the German Confederation are also separately counted (35 monarchies).</ref><br />
{{Legend|#FF0000|Monarchies (55)}}
{{Legend|#0000FF|Republics (9)}}</small>
|align=left|<small>[[List of sovereign states in 1914|European states in 1914]]<ref>The [[Ottoman Empire]] and [[Russian Empire]] are counted amongst Europe.</ref><br />
{{Legend|#FF0000|Monarchies (22)}}
{{Legend|#0000FF|Republics (4)}}</small>
|align=left|<small>[[List of sovereign states in 1930|European states in 1930]]<ref>The Republic of Turkey is counted amongst Europe, the [[Soviet Union|Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] as a single republic, the [[Irish Free State]] as an independent monarchy (see also [[Irish head of state from 1922 to 1949]]), Vatican City as an [[elective monarchy]], the [[Kingdom of Hungary (1920–46)|Kingdom of Hungary]] as a nominal monarchy.</ref><br />
{{Legend|#FF0000|Monarchies (20)}}
{{Legend|#0000FF|Republics (15)}}</small>
|align=left|<small>[[List of sovereign states in 1950|European states in 1950]]<ref>The [[Republic of Turkey]] is counted amongst [[Europe]], the [[Soviet Union|Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] as a single republic, the [[Free Territory of Trieste]] as an independent republic, [[Vatican City]] as an [[elective monarchy]], the [[Spanish State]] as a nominal monarchy.</ref><br />
{{Legend|#FF0000|Monarchies (13)}}
{{Legend|#0000FF|Republics (21)}}</small>
|align=left|<small>[[List of sovereign states in 2015|European states in 2015]]<ref>The [[Republic of Turkey]] is counted amongst [[Europe]], the [[Russian Federation]] as a single republic, the [[Republic of Kosovo]] (recognised by most other European states) as an independent republic, [[Vatican City]] as an [[elective monarchy]]. [[Kazakhstan|The Republic of Kazakhstan]] is not shown on this map and is excluded from the count. The [[Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus]] (recognised only by Turkey) and all other unrecognised states are excluded from the count.</ref><br />
{{Legend|#FF0000|Monarchies (12)}}
{{Legend|#0000FF|Republics (35)}}</small>
|}
[[File:Daumier République.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Honoré Daumier]]''[[The Republic (Daumier)|The Republic]]'' (1848), a symbolic representation of the [[French Second Republic]]. Oil on canvas, 73 x 60 cm., The Louvre, Paris]]
The [[French Second Republic]] was created in 1848 but abolished by [[Napoleon III]] who proclaimed himself Emperor in 1852. The [[French Third Republic]] was established in 1870 when a civil revolutionary committee refused to accept Napoleon III's surrender during the [[Franco-Prussian War]]. Spain briefly became the [[First Spanish Republic]] in 1873–74, but the monarchy was soon restored. By the start of the 20th century France, Switzerland and San Marino remained the only republics in Europe. This changed when, after the 1908 [[Lisbon Regicide]], the [[5 October 1910 revolution]] established the [[First Portuguese Republic|Portuguese Republic]].

[[File:Chinese republic forever.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|A 1920s poster that commemorates the permanent President of the [[Republic of China (1912–49)|Republic of China]] [[Yuan Shikai]] and the provisional President of the Republic [[Sun Yat-sen]]]]
In East Asia, China had seen considerable [[anti-Qing sentiment]] during the 19th century, and a number of protest movements developed calling for constitutional monarchy. The most important leader of these efforts was [[Sun Yat-sen]], whose [[Three Principles of the People]] combined American, European, and Chinese ideas. Under his leadership, the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] was proclaimed on January 1, 1912.

Republican ideas were spreading, especially in Asia. The United States began to have considerable influence in East Asia in the later part of the 19th century, with [[Protestant]] missionaries playing a central role. The liberal and republican writers of the West also exerted influence. These combined with native [[Confucian]] inspired political philosophy that had long argued that the populace had the right to reject unjust governments that had lost the [[Mandate of Heaven]].

During this period, three short-lived republics were proclaimed in East Asia; the [[Republic of Ezo]], the [[Republic of Formosa]], and the [[First Philippine Republic]].

Republicanism expanded significantly in the aftermath of [[World War I]] when several of the largest European empires collapsed: the [[Russian Empire]] (1917), [[German Empire]] (1918), [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]] (1918), and [[Ottoman Empire]] (1922) were all replaced by republics. New states gained independence during this turmoil, and many of these, such as [[Irish Republic|Ireland]], [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]], [[Finland]] and [[Czechoslovakia]], chose republican forms of government. Following Greece's defeat in the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–22)]], the monarchy was briefly replaced by the [[Second Hellenic Republic]] (1924–35). In 1931, the proclamation of the [[Second Spanish Republic]] (1931–39) resulted in the [[Spanish Civil War]] leading to the establishment of a [[Francoist Spain|Francoist regime]].
[[File:Referendum-2-giugno scheda elettorale.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Electoral ballot of the [[1946 Italian institutional referendum]]]]

The aftermath of [[World War II]] left [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] with a destroyed economy, a divided society, and anger against the monarchy for its endorsement of the [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Fascist regime]]. These frustrations contributed to a revival of the Italian republican movement.<ref>{{Citation|year=1970|title=Italia|encyclopedia=Dizionario enciclopedico italiano|volume=VI|page=456|publisher=[[Treccani]]|language=it}}</ref> King [[Umberto II of Italy|Umberto II]] was pressured to call the [[1946 Italian institutional referendum]] to decide whether Italy should remain a monarchy or become a republic.<ref>{{cite book|language=fr|first=Paul|last=Guichonnet|title=Histoire de l'Italie|publisher=Presses universitaires de France|year=1975|page=121}} {{No ISBN}}</ref> The supporters of the republic chose the effigy of the ''[[Italia turrita]]'', the [[national personification]] of Italy, as their unitary symbol to be used in the electoral campaign and on the referendum ballot on the institutional form of the State, in contrast to the [[House of Savoy|Savoy coat of arms]], which represented the monarchy.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bazzano|first=Nicoletta |title=Donna Italia. L'allegoria della Penisola dall'antichità ai giorni nostri|url = https://www.academia.edu/15080772 |year=2011 |publisher=Angelo Colla Editore|language=it|isbn=978-88-96817-06-3|page=72}}</ref> On June 2, 1946 the republican side won 54.3% of the vote and Italy officially became a republic,<ref>{{cite book|language=it|first=Giorgio|last=Bocca|author-link=Giorgio Bocca|title=Storia della Repubblica italiana|publisher=Rizzoli|year=1981|pages=14–16}} {{No ISBN}}</ref> a day celebrated since as ''[[Festa della Repubblica]]''. Italy has a written democratic [[Constitution of Italy|constitution]], resulting from the work of a [[Constituent Assembly of Italy|Constituent Assembly]] formed by the representatives of all the [[anti-fascist]] forces that contributed to the defeat of Nazi and Fascist forces during the [[liberation of Italy]].<ref>Smyth, Howard McGaw Italy: From Fascism to the Republic (1943–1946) ''The Western Political Quarterly'' vol. 1 no. 3 (pp. 205–222), September 1948.{{JSTOR|442274}}</ref>

=== Decolonization ===
[[File:Commonwealth republics.svg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|A map of the Commonwealth republics]]

In the years following [[World War II]], most of the remaining European colonies gained their independence, and most became republics. The two largest colonial powers were France and the United Kingdom. Republican France encouraged the establishment of republics in its former colonies. The United Kingdom attempted to follow the model it had for its earlier settler colonies of creating independent [[Commonwealth realm]]s still linked under the same monarch. While most of the settler colonies and the smaller states in the [[Caribbean]] and the [[Oceania|Pacific]] retained this system, it was rejected by the newly independent countries in [[Africa]] and [[Asia]], which revised their constitutions and became [[Republics in the Commonwealth of Nations|republic]]s instead.

Britain followed a different model in the Middle East; it installed local monarchies in several colonies and mandates including [[Iraq]], [[Jordan]], [[Kuwait]], [[Bahrain]], [[Oman]], [[Yemen]] and [[Libya]]. In subsequent decades revolutions and [[coup]]s overthrew a number of monarchs and installed republics. Several monarchies remain, and the Middle East is the only part of the world where several large states are ruled by monarchs with almost complete political control.<ref>Anderson, Lisa. "Absolutism and the Resilience of Monarchy in the Middle East". ''Political Science Quarterly'', Vol. 106, No. 1 (Spring, 1991), pp. 1–15</ref>

=== Socialist republics ===
{{See also|People's Republic|Socialist state}}
In the wake of the First World War, the Russian monarchy fell during the [[Russian Revolution]]. The [[Russian Provisional Government]] was established in its place on the lines of a liberal republic, but this was overthrown by the [[Bolsheviks]] who went on to establish the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] (USSR). This was the first republic established under [[Marxist–Leninist]] ideology. Communism was wholly opposed to monarchy and became an important element of many republican movements during the 20th century. The Russian Revolution spread into [[Mongolia]] and overthrew its theocratic monarchy in 1924. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the communists gradually gained control of [[Romania]], [[Bulgaria]], [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]], [[Hungary]] and [[Albania]], ensuring that the states were reestablished as socialist republics rather than monarchies.

Communism also intermingled with other ideologies. It was embraced by many national liberation movements during [[decolonization]]. In Vietnam, communist republicans pushed aside the [[Nguyễn dynasty]], and monarchies in neighbouring [[Laos]] and [[Cambodia]] were overthrown by communist movements in the 1970s. [[Arab socialism]] contributed to a series of revolts and coups that saw the monarchies of [[Egypt]], Iraq, Libya, and Yemen ousted. In Africa, Marxism–Leninism and [[African socialism]] led to the end of monarchy and the proclamation of republics in states such as [[Burundi]] and [[Ethiopia]].

==Constitution==
A republic does not necessarily have a [[constitution]] but is often constitutional in the sense of [[constitutionalism]], meaning that it is constituted by a set of institutions which provide a [[separation of powers]]. The term '''constitutional republic''' is a way to highlight an emphasis on the separation of powers in a given republic, as with [[constitutional monarchy]] or [[absolute monarchy]] highlighting the absolute [[autocratic]] character of a [[monarchy]].

== Head of state ==
=== Structure ===
{{Systems of government}}

With no monarch, most modern republics use the title [[President (government title)|president]] for the [[head of state]]. Originally used to refer to the presiding officer of a committee or governing body in Great Britain the usage was also applied to political leaders, including the leaders of some of the [[Thirteen Colonies]] (originally Virginia in 1608); in full, the "President of the Council".<ref>[[OED]], ''s. v.''</ref> The first republic to adopt the title was the [[United States|United States of America]]. Keeping its usage as the head of a committee the [[President of the Continental Congress]] was the leader of the original congress. When the new constitution was written the title of [[President of the United States]] was conferred on the head of the new [[executive branch]].

If the head of state of a republic is also the [[head of government]], this is called a [[presidential system]]. There are a number of forms of presidential government. A full-presidential system has a president with substantial authority and a central political role.

In other states the legislature is dominant and the presidential role is almost purely ceremonial and apolitical, such as in [[Germany]], [[Italy]], [[India]], and [[Trinidad and Tobago]]. These states are [[parliamentary republic]]s and operate similarly to constitutional monarchies with [[parliamentary system]]s where the power of the monarch is also greatly circumscribed. In parliamentary systems the head of government, most often titled [[prime minister]], exercises the most real political power. [[Semi-presidential system]]s have a president as an active head of state with important powers, but they also have a prime minister as a head of government with important powers.

The rules for appointing the president and the leader of the government, in some republics permit the appointment of a president and a prime minister who have opposing political convictions: in France, when the members of the ruling [[cabinet (government)|cabinet]] and the president come from opposing political factions, this situation is called [[cohabitation (government)|cohabitation]].

In some countries, like [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], [[San Marino]], and [[Switzerland]], the head of state is not a single person but a committee (council) of several persons holding that office. The Roman Republic had two [[consul]]s, elected for a one-year term by the ''[[comitia centuriata]]'', consisting of all adult, freeborn males who could prove citizenship.

=== Elections ===
In [[democracy|democracies]], presidents are elected, either directly by the people or indirectly by a parliament or council. Typically in presidential and semi-presidential systems the president is directly elected by the people or is indirectly elected as done in the United States. In that country, the president is officially elected by an [[United States Electoral College |electoral college]], chosen by the States. All U.S. States have chosen electors by popular election since 1832. The indirect election of the president through the electoral college conforms to the concept of the republic as one with a system of indirect election. In the opinion of some, direct election confers [[Legitimacy (political science)|legitimacy]] upon the president and gives the office much of its political power.<ref>"Presidential Systems" ''Governments of the World: A Global Guide to Citizens' Rights and Responsibilities''. Ed. C. Neal Tate. Vol. 4. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2006. pp. 7–11.</ref> However, this concept of legitimacy differs from that expressed in the United States Constitution which established the legitimacy of the United States president as resulting from the signing of the Constitution by nine states.<ref>Article VII, Constitution of the United States</ref> The idea that direct election is required for legitimacy also contradicts the spirit of the [[Connecticut Compromise|Great Compromise]], whose actual result was manifest in the clause<ref>Article II, Para 2, Constitution of the United States</ref> that provides voters in smaller states with more representation in presidential selection than those in large states; for example citizens of Wyoming in 2016 had 3.6 times as much electoral vote representation as citizens of [[California]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-petrocelli/its-time-to-end-the-electoral-college_b_12891764.html|title=Voters In Wyoming Have 3.6 Times The Voting Power That I Have. It's Time To End The Electoral College|first=William|last=Petrocelli|date=10 November 2016|website=huffingtonpost.com}}</ref>

In states with a parliamentary system, the president is usually elected by the parliament. This indirect election subordinates the president to the parliament, and also gives the president limited legitimacy and turns most presidential powers into [[reserve power]]s that can only be exercised under rare circumstances. There are exceptions where elected presidents have only ceremonial powers, such as in [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]].

=== Ambiguities ===
The distinction between a republic and a monarchy is not always clear. The [[constitutional monarchies]] of the former British Empire and Western Europe today have almost all real political power vested in the elected representatives, with the monarchs only holding either theoretical powers, no powers or rarely used reserve powers. Real legitimacy for political decisions comes from the elected representatives and is derived from the will of the people. While hereditary monarchies remain in place, political power is derived from the people as in a republic. These states are thus sometimes referred to as [[crowned republic]]s.<ref>The novelist and essayist [[H. G. Wells]] regularly used the term crowned republic to describe the United Kingdom, for instance in his work ''A Short History of the World''. [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson]] in his poem ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20080817170129/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/t/tennyson/alfred/idylls/chapter13.html Idylls of the King] ''.</ref>

Terms such as "liberal republic" are also used to describe all of the modern liberal democracies.<ref>[[John Montfort Dunn|Dunn, John]]. "The Identity of the Bourgeois Liberal Republic". The Invention of the Modern Republic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.</ref>

There are also self-proclaimed republics that act similarly to absolute monarchies with absolute power vested in the leader and passed down from father to son. North Korea and Syria are two notable examples where a son has inherited political control. Neither of these states are officially monarchies. There is no constitutional requirement that power be passed down within one family, but it has occurred in practice.

There are also [[elective monarchy|elective monarchies]] where ultimate power is vested in a monarch, but the monarch is chosen by some manner of election. A current example of such a state is [[Malaysia]] where the [[Yang di-Pertuan Agong]] is elected every five years by the [[Conference of Rulers]] composed of the nine hereditary rulers of the [[Malay states]], and the [[Vatican City-State]], where the [[pope]] is selected by cardinal-electors, currently all [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinals]] under the age of 80. While rare today, elective monarchs were common in the past. The Holy Roman Empire is an important example, where each new emperor was chosen by a group of electors. Islamic states also rarely employed [[primogeniture]], instead relying on various forms of election to choose a monarch's successor.

The [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] had an elective monarchy, with a wide suffrage of some 500,000 nobles. The system, known as the [[Golden Liberty]], had developed as a method for powerful landowners to control the crown. The proponents of this system looked to classical examples, and the writings of the Italian Renaissance, and called their elective monarchy a ''[[rzeczpospolita]]'', based on ''res publica''.

== Sub-national republics ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=June 2015}}
[[File:Republics of Russia (labeled).svg|thumb|The ''de jure'' [[republics of Russia]], which were created to give more autonomy to the country's ethnic minorities]]
In general being a republic also implies [[sovereignty]] as for the state to be ruled by the people it cannot be controlled by a foreign power. There are important exceptions to this, for example, republics in the [[Soviet Union]] were member states which had to meet three criteria to be named republics:

# be on the periphery of the Soviet Union so as to be able to take advantage of their theoretical right to secede;
# be economically strong enough to be self-sufficient upon secession; and
# be named after at least one million people of the ethnic group which should make up the majority population of said republic.

It is sometimes argued that the former Soviet Union was also a supra-national republic, based on the claim that the member states were different [[nation state]]s.

The [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]] was a federal entity composed of six republics (Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia). Each republic had its parliament, government, institute of citizenship, constitution, etc., but certain functions were delegated to the federation (army, monetary matters). Each republic also had a right of [[self-determination]] according to the conclusions of the [[second session of the AVNOJ]] and according to the [[Constitution of Yugoslavia|federal constitution]].

[[File:Federal Cupola.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|left|The Swiss cantons displayed on the cupola of the [[Federal Palace]]]]
In Switzerland, [[Cantons of Switzerland|all cantons]] can be considered to have a republican form of government, with constitutions, legislatures, executives and courts; many of them being originally sovereign states. As a consequence, several [[Romance languages|Romance-speaking]] cantons are still officially referred to as republics, reflecting their history and will of independence within the Swiss Confederation. Notable examples are the [[Canton of Geneva|Republic and Canton of Geneva]] and the [[Ticino|Republic and Canton of Ticino]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/fr/articles/009925/2011-12-23/ |title=République |language=fr |publisher=[[Historical Dictionary of Switzerland]] |quote=Les nouveaux cantons de la Suisse latine choisirent le titre de république, qui soulignait leur indépendance, alors que "canton" met l'accent sur l'appartenance à la Confédération; Genève, Neuchâtel et le Tessin l'ont conservé jusqu'à nos jours. |trans-quote=The new cantons of Latin Switzerland chose the title of republic, which underlined their independence, while "canton" emphasizes membership of the Confederation; Geneva, Neuchâtel and Ticino have kept it to this day.|access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref>

[[File:California Republic (4136725536).jpg|thumb|Flag of the US state of [[California]], a sub-national entity.]]
States of the United States are required, like the federal government, to be republican in form, with final authority resting with the people. This was required because the states were intended to create and enforce most domestic laws, with the exception of areas delegated to the federal government and prohibited to the states. The founders of the country intended most domestic laws to be handled by the states. Requiring the states to be a republic in form was seen as protecting the citizens' rights and preventing a state from becoming a dictatorship or monarchy, and reflected unwillingness on the part of the original 13 states (all independent republics) to unite with other states that were not republics. Additionally, this requirement ensured that only other republics could join the union.

In the example of the United States, the original 13 British [[colonies]] became [[independent (nation)|independent]] states after the American Revolution, each having a republican form of government. These independent states initially formed a loose confederation called the United States and then later formed the current United States by ratifying the current [[United States Constitution|U.S. Constitution]], creating a [[Political union|union]] that was a republic. Any state joining the union later was also required to be a republic.

== Other meanings ==
{{republicanism sidebar}}

===Archaic meaning===
Before the 17th Century, the term 'republic' could be used to refer to states of any form of government as long as it was not a tyrannical regime. French philosopher [[Jean Bodin]]'s definition of the republic was "the rightly ordered government of a number of families, and of those things which are their common concern, by a sovereign power." Oligarchies and monarchies could also be included as they were also organised toward 'public' shared interests.<ref name="Munro">{{cite web |first1=André |last1=Munro |title=republic |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/republic-government |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=15 Dec 2021}}</ref> In medieval texts, 'republic' was used to refer to the body of shared interest with the king at its head.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Frank Anthony Carl |last1=Mantello |first2=A. G. |last2=Rigg |title=Medieval Latin: An Introduction and Bibliographical Guide |date=1996 |publisher=CUA Press |isbn=9780813208428 |page=209 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bb32Th4WAK0C&pg=PA209 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Glenn |first1=Jason |title=Politics and History in the Tenth Century: The Work and World of Richer of Reims |date=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521834872 |page=246 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tkPcvsHbsiIC&pg=PA246 }}</ref> For instance, the [[Holy Roman Empire]] was also known as the ''Sancta Respublica Romana'', the Holy Roman Republic.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Christopher Dawson |title=The Making of Europe: An Introduction to the History of European Unity |date=2002 |publisher=CUA Press |isbn=9780813210834 |page=101}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Giuliano Amato, Enzo Moavero-Milanesi, Gianfranco Pasquino, Lucrezia Reichlin |title=The History of the European Union: Constructing Utopia |date=2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=9781509917426 |page=17}}</ref> The [[Byzantine Empire]] also continued calling itself ''the Roman Republic'' as the Byzantines did not regard monarchy as a contradiction to republicanism. Instead, republics were defined as any state based on popular sovereignty and whose institutions were based on shared values.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Anthony Kaldellis |title=Ethnography After Antiquity: Foreign Lands and Peoples in Byzantine Literature |date=2013 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=9780812208405 |page=14}}</ref>

=== Democracy vs. republic debate ===
{{See also|Democratic republic}}
In a republic state, power is held by the people through elected representatives. The head of state is typically elected or nominated by representatives. In a democratic state, power is wielded by the people of the state, typically through a mixture of elected representatives and direct voting, but in theory could happen purely by [[Direct democracy]] without elected representatives acting as proxies. Many states are considered a mixture of both ideals, such as a [[Representative democracy]] or [[Democratic republic]].

The term [[democracy]] is sometimes used interchangeably with the term republic, while others have made sharp distinctions between the two for millennia. "Montesquieu, founder of the modern constitutional state, repeated in his The Spirit of the Laws of 1748 the insight that Aristotle had expressed two millennia earlier, 'Voting by lot is in the nature of democracy; voting by choice is in the nature of aristocracy.{{'"}}<ref name=":6">Van Reybrouck, David. ''Against Elections'' (p. 75). Seven Stories Press. 2016.</ref> Additional critics of elections include [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau|Rousseau]], [[Maximilien Robespierre|Robespierre]], and [[Jean-Paul Marat|Marat]], who said of the new French Republic, "What use is it to us, that we have broken the aristocracy of the nobles, if that is replaced by the aristocracy of the rich?"<ref name=":4">Van Reybrouck, David. ''Against Elections'' (p. 85). Seven Stories Press. 2016.</ref>

=== Political philosophy ===
{{Main|Republicanism}}

The term ''republic'' originated from the writers of the [[Renaissance]] as a descriptive term for states that were not monarchies. These writers, such as Machiavelli, also wrote important prescriptive works describing how such governments should function. These ideas of how a government and society should be structured is the basis for an ideology known as [[classical republicanism]] or [[civic humanism]]. This ideology is based on the Roman Republic and the city states of Ancient Greece and focuses on ideals such as [[civic virtue]], [[rule of law]] and mixed government.<ref>"[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/republicanism/ Republicanism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180309140336/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/republicanism/ |date=2018-03-09 }}" ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''. Jun 19, 2006</ref>

This understanding of a republic as a form of government distinct from a [[liberal democracy]] is one of the main theses of the Cambridge School of historical analysis.<ref>McCormick, John P. "Machiavelli against Republicanism: On the Cambridge School's 'Guicciardinian Moments{{'"}} ''Political Theory'', Vol. 31, No. 5 (Oct., 2003), pp. 615–43</ref> This grew out of the work of [[J. G. A. Pocock]] who in 1975 argued that a series of scholars had expressed a consistent set of republican ideals. These writers included Machiavelli, Milton, Montesquieu and the founders of the United States of America.

Pocock argued that this was an ideology with a history and principles distinct from liberalism.<ref>Pocock, J. G. A ''The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition'' Princeton: 1975, 2003</ref> These ideas were embraced by a number of different writers, including [[Quentin Skinner]], [[Philip Pettit]]<ref>Philip Pettit, ''Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and Government'', NY: Oxford U.P., 1997, {{ISBN|0-19-829083-7}}; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997.</ref> and [[Cass Sunstein]]. These subsequent writers have further explored the history of the idea, and also outlined how a modern republic should function.

=== United States ===
{{Main|Republicanism in the United States}}

A distinct set of definitions of the term "republic" evolved in the United States, where the term is often equated with "[[representative democracy]]". This narrower understanding of the term was originally developed by James Madison<ref>{{Cite web|title=Democracy - Democracy or republic?|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/democracy|access-date=2021-06-27|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=What Is a Democracy? [ushistory.org]|url=https://www.ushistory.org/gov/1c.asp|access-date=2021-06-27|website=www.ushistory.org}}</ref> and notably employed in [[Federalist No. 10|Federalist Paper No. 10]]. This meaning was widely adopted early in the history of the United States, including in [[Noah Webster]]'s dictionary of 1828.<ref>{{Cite web|title=SEARCHING -word- for [republic] :: Search the 1828 Noah Webster's Dictionary of the English Language (FREE) :: 1828.mshaffer.com|url=https://1828.mshaffer.com/d/search/word,republic|access-date=2021-06-27|website=1828.mshaffer.com}}</ref> It was a novel meaning to the term; representative democracy was not an idea mentioned by Machiavelli and did not exist in the classical republics.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Everdell|2000}} p. 6</ref> There is also evidence that contemporaries of Madison considered the meaning of "republic" to reflect the broader definition found elsewhere, as is the case with a quotation of [[Benjamin Franklin]] taken from the notes of [[James McHenry]] where the question is put forth, "a Republic or a Monarchy?".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bartleby.com/73/1593.html|title=1593. Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790). Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989|date=25 June 2022 }}</ref>

The term republic does not appear in the [[Declaration of Independence (United States)|Declaration of Independence]], but it does appear in Article IV of the Constitution, which "guarantee[s] to every State in this Union a Republican form of Government." What exactly the writers of the constitution felt this should mean is uncertain. The [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]], in ''[[Luther v. Borden]]'' (1849), declared that the definition of ''republic'' was a "[[political question]]" in which it would not intervene. In two later cases, it did establish a basic definition. In ''[[United States v. Cruikshank]]'' (1875), the court ruled that the "equal rights of citizens" were inherent to the idea of a republic.

However, the term republic is not synonymous with the republican form. The republican form is defined as one in which the powers of sovereignty are vested in the people and are exercised by the people, either directly, or through representatives chosen by the people, to whom those powers are specially delegated.<ref>''In re Duncan'', 139 U.S. 449, 11 S.Ct. 573, 35 L.Ed. 219; ''Minor v. Happersett'', 88 U.S. (21 Wall.) 162, 22 L.Ed. 627.</ref><ref>GOVERNMENT (Republican Form of Government) – One in which the powers of sovereignty are vested in the people and are exercised by the people ... directly ... Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, p. 695</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=Multiple ellipses in cited quotation, reference is also specific to legal terminology, not common language.|date=December 2018}}

Beyond these basic definitions, the word republic has a number of other connotations. W. Paul Adams observes that republic is most often used in the United States as a synonym for "state" or "government", but with more positive connotations than either of those terms.<ref>W. Paul Adams "Republicanism in Political Rhetoric Before 1776". ''Political Science Quarterly'', Vol. 85, No. 3 (Sep., 1970), pp. 397–421</ref> Republicanism is often referred to as the founding ideology of the United States.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Wood|first=Gordon|date=April 1990|title=Classical Republicanism and the American Revolution|url=https://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2785&context=cklawreview |issue=1 |journal=Chicago-Kent Law Review|volume=66|pages=13–20 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307154456/https://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=2785&context=cklawreview |archive-date= Mar 7, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last1=Hutchins|first1=Thomas|last2=Washington|first2=George|last3=Paine|first3=Thomas|last4=Jefferson|first4=Thomas|last5=Adams|first5=John|last6=Fadden|first6=Will|date=2008-04-12|title=Founded on a Set of Beliefs - Creating the United States {{!}} Exhibitions |url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/creating-the-united-states/founded-on-a-set-of-beliefs.html|access-date=2021-06-27|website=Library of Congress }}</ref> Traditionally scholars believed this American republicanism was a derivation of the classical liberal ideologies of [[John Locke]] and others developed in Europe.<ref name=":0" />

In the 1960s and 1970s, [[Bernard Bailyn]] began to argue that republicanism was just as, or even more important than liberalism in the creation of the United States.<ref>Bailyn, Bernard. ''The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution''. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1967.</ref> This issue is still much disputed and scholars like [[Isaac Kramnick]] completely reject this view.<ref>Kramnick, Isaac. ''Republicanism and Bourgeois Radicalism: Political Ideology in Late Eighteenth-Century England and America''. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1990.</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Free state (government)|Free state]]
* [[Primus inter pares]]
* [[List of republics]]
* [[:Category:Republics|Index: Republics]]
* [[Guarantee Clause]] of the U.S. Constitution

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
* {{cite book | last=Finer | first=S.E. | title=The History of Government from the Earliest Times: Volume II: The Intermediate Ages | publisher=OUP Oxford | year=1999 | isbn=978-0-19-820790-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AhEab85xHAMC }}

==Further reading==
[[File:Thomas Corwin, Senate Speech Against the Mexican War-Congressional Globe-ed. WRE-Apr11.pdf|thumb|Speech of U.S. Senator against the Mexican–American War characterizing it as imperialist and presidential.]]
* Martin van Gelderen & [[Quentin Skinner]], eds., ''Republicanism: A Shared European Heritage'', v. 1, ''Republicanism and Constitutionalism in Early Modern Europe'', Cambridge: Cambridge U.P., 2002
* Martin van Gelderen & Quentin Skinner, eds., ''Republicanism: A Shared European Heritage'', v. 2, ''The Values of Republicanism in Early Modern Europe'', Cambridge: Cambridge U.P., 2002
* Willi Paul Adams, "Republicanism in Political Rhetoric before 1776", ''Political Science Quarterly'' 85(1970), pp.&nbsp;397–421.
* Joyce Appleby, "Republicanism in Old and New Contexts", in ''William & Mary Quarterly'', 3rd series, 43 (January, 1986), pp.&nbsp;3–34.
* Joyce Appleby, ed., "Republicanism" issue of ''American Quarterly'' 37 (Fall, 1985).
* Sarah Barber, ''Regicide and Republicanism: Politics and Ethics in the English Republic, 1646–1649'', Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1998. 
* Gisela Bock, Quentin Skinner & Maurizio Viroli, eds., ''Machiavelli and Republicanism'', Cambridge: Cambridge U.P., 1990.
* {{citation|first=William R. |last=Everdell |title=The End of Kings: A History of Republics and Republicans |edition=2nd |location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2000}}
* Eric Gojosso, ''Le concept de république en France (XVIe – XVIIIe siècle)'', Aix/Marseille, 1998, pp.&nbsp;205–45.
* James Hankins, "Exclusivist Republicanism and the Non-Monarchical Republic", ''Political Theory'' 38.4 (August 2010), 452–82.
* Frédéric Monera, ''L'idée de République et la jurisprudence du Conseil constitutionnel'' – Paris: L.G.D.J., 2004 [http://www.fnac.com/Shelf/article.asp?PRID=1601897&Mn=2&Ra=-1&To=0&Nu=2&Fr=3 Fnac], [https://web.archive.org/web/20060923201826/http://www.lgdj.fr/rech_rapide.php?_Sess=c22f5de9dee93f9554d169596caad970&_Mots=monera&_TypeCode= LGDJ.fr]
* Philip Pettit, ''Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and Government'', Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997, pp. x and 304.
* J. G. A. Pocock, ''The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition'', Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975 
* J. G. A. Pocock, "Between Gog and Magog: The Republican Thesis and the Ideologia Americana", ''Journal of the History of Ideas'' 48 (1987), p.&nbsp;341
* J. G. A. Pocock, "''The Machiavellian Moment'' Revisited: A Study in History and Ideology" ''Journal of Modern History'' 53 (1981) 
* Paul A. Rahe, ''Republics Ancient and Modern: Classical Republicanism and the American Revolution'', 3 v., Chapel Hill: U. of North Carolina Press 1992, 1994.
* Jagdish P. Sharma, ''Republics in ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C.'', 1968
* David Wootton, ed., ''Republicanism, Liberty, and Commercial Society, 1649–1776'' (The Making of Modern Freedom series), Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1994.

== External links ==
*{{Commons category-inline|Republic}}
*{{Commons category-inline|Republics}}
*{{Wiktionary-inline|republic}}
*{{Wikiquote-inline}}
*[[William Everdell|Everdell, William R. Everdell]]. [http://www.reasoninrevolt.net.au/objects/pdf/a000109.pdf "From State to Freestate: The Meaning of the Word Republic from Jean Bodin to John Adams"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324141847/http://www.reasoninrevolt.net.au/objects/pdf/a000109.pdf |date=2019-03-24 }} (7th ISECS, Budapest, 7/31/87). ''Valley Forge Journal''. June 1991.

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Republicanism|*]]
[[Category:Republic| ]]