@coldjoint,
A little fuzzy on this one, ColdDoperino. A democracy is a government where representatives are elected by the people. A republic can be a democracy, but it can also be a totalitarian. Consequently Cuba's Castro, or Saddam Hussein's Iraq is a republic.
In essence the USA is Constitution based democratic republic.
See
Are we a democracy or a republic?
Unfortunately this debate has become politically motivated by the Karl Rovian press (and their running dogs) as an excuse to widen the Democrat/Republican debates.
I expect the usual ColdDope response--fuel by ignorance and based in Hate.
Rap