Republic
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A republic, based on the Latin phrase res publica, is a state in which political power rests with the public, typically through their representatives—in contrast to a monarchy or a direct democracy. A
Sculpture of Cicero
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Neptune offers the wealth of the sea to Venice, 1748–1750. This painting is an allegory of the power of the Republic of Venice.
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.
An allegory of the French Republic in Paris
Direct democracy
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Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the electorate directly decides on policy initiatives, without elected representatives as proxies, as opposed to the representative d
Republic
…thing'), is a state in which political power rests with the public (people), typically through their representatives—in contrast to a monarchy or a direct democracy. Although a republic is most often a single sovereign state, subnational state entities that have governments that are republican in nature may be…
A Landsgemeinde, "cantonal assembly", in the canton of Glarus on 7 May 2006, Switzerland. Landsgemeinden are public voting gatherings, and are one of the oldest examples of direct democracy.
In Switzerland, with no need to register, every citizen receives the ballot papers and information brochure for each vote and election and can return it by post. Switzerland has various directly democratic instruments; votes are organized about four times a year. Here, the papers received by every citizen of Berne in November 2008 about five national, two cantonal, four municipal referendums, and two elections (government and parliament of the City of Berne) of 23 competing parties to take care of at the same time.
Practicing direct democracy – voting on Nuit Debout, Place de la République, Paris