On Freedom

by Timothy Snyder

Americans sometimes say that their country is a republic, meaning that it need not be a democracy. This makes no sense. Both words commit us to the same principle: we should rule ourselves. In the ancient cases, the practice of “rule by the people” (democracy) or the definition of government as a “common matter” or “the people’s issue” (republic) meant assemblies of citizens. In the American system, voting (democracy) is meant to create a government that is representative of the common good (a republic). As Thomas Jefferson wrote to James Madison, the “avowed object” of democracy is “the nourishment of the republican principles of our constitution.” Americans who describe the system as a republic rather than a democracy are citing Madison, who was comparing the American representative system to ancient assemblies. He was not saying that a republic excludes while a democracy includes. He had in mind representation as a means of inclusion: whereas the chaos of ancient democracies prevented the people from ruling, voting would enable orderly government. Madison thought that an electoral democracy would allow the meaningful participation of a far greater number of people than was possible in older forms of democracy. In this he was absolutely right. Having a republic means paying attention to that greater public. It asks us to pursue our own freedom by knowing the situation of others and by creating the appropriate institutions for knowing the preferences of all. Those who car...