Republicans, furious online about the Florida recount, have resurrected an old conservative meme: "The US is a republic, not a democracy." Let's dig into what that means:
It's a content-free in-group-signifier that's deployed by right wingers and libertarians to smug-face their way through any substantive policy disagreement.
Generally, it's deployed by conservatives who are trying to push back against anyone arguing for the expansion of rights, up to and including voting rights (which is why it's reappearing here re: Florida).
The irony is that, to the limited extent this is a distinction with a difference, it doesn't help conservatives.
Going by their *own* preferred distinction, "democracy" only ever means direct democracy with absolute majority rule. A republic, in their view, is constitutionally mediated, with protections for minorities; there are constraints on both government and the popular will.
You might start to see a problem here for conservatives, of course, who love direct democracy and majority rule when, say, setting up referenda on same sex marriage or trans rights. Or who love expansive government re: women's reproductive health and ICE,
In the end, though, "democracy/republic" is a false dichotomy. It's not even at the level of "water/ice." The term "democracy" fairly describes all republics that fit the conservative's preferred definition outlined above. The "pure direct democracy" thing is a strawman.
As always, it's a pseudointellectual standard meant to A) communicate to other conservatives and libertarians that they're on the same team and B) dress up a contempt for the many people conservatives want to exterminate or take rights away from. No more or less.
