Differences Between a Constitutional Republic and a Democracy 

A Constitutional Republic is a state where the officials are elected as representatives of the people, and must govern according to existing constitutional law that limits the government's power over citizens.  A Constitutional Republic is the current form of government in the United States. However in recent years, many people have criticized the federal government for moving away from a Constitutional Republic, as defined by the Constitution, and towards a pure democracy^.

Democracy means the people rule and can do anything they want by majority rule. In the U.S. "super majorities" (over 50%) are required for many decisions, such as ratifying a treaty or passing a constitutional amendment. Republicanism means there is a system of rule of law, or inalienable rights, which no majority can vote out.  Alexis de Tocqueville wrote:  If, on the other hand, a legislative power could be so constituted as to represent the majority without necessarily being the slave of its passions, an executive so as to retain a proper share of authority, and a judiciary so as to remain independent of the other two powers, a government would be formed which would still be democratic while incurring scarcely any risk of tyranny.

A Republic, by definition, has two principle elements. First, it is controlled by Law; therefore, it does not control Law. Second, it recognizes the private independent sovereign nature of each person (man or woman) of competent age and capacity; therefore, a Republic must be representative in its nature.  A Republic recognizes Law is unchangeable, or at least that it can only be changed by a higher source than government. In a Republic the concept of “collective sovereignty” cannot exist, except with recognition that the State or nation, as a body of sovereigns, can speak through one elected voice; though that one voice can never lawfully interfere with the private rights of the individual sovereigns.  The purpose of a Constitutional Republic is to place limits on the tyranny of the majority over the rights and freedoms of the individual.

Definition of Sovereignty

Sovereignty is having ultimate authority over a territory, with the absolute right to govern. Thus, a sovereign state is one that governs itself, independent of any foreign power, with the full authority to make war or peace and to form treaties or alliances with foreign nations. Sovereignty in government includes the authority to create, execute, and repeal laws, as well as the power to impose and collect taxes.

Popular Sovereignty

Democracy is based on the concept of Popular Sovereignty.  In federal systems of government, such as in the United States, sovereignty also refers to powers that state governments possess independently of the national government. Disputes over this authority led to the American Civil War.  So this form of Sovereignty can lead to state vs. state.

Collective Sovereignty

The people collectively, also known as the Collective Sovereignty, have a similar responsibility towards governments as parents have towards their children. They have the inherent and irremovable authority to instruct and command their elected civil servants.  That the Sovereign people do not need to seek permission from any of the governments they created to speak and act in their Sovereign or Collective Sovereign capacity.

Theory of Sovereignty vs. Today’s Reality

Acting in our Collective Sovereign authority we have also participated in elections every 4 or 5 years. In theory the purpose of the elections is for the Collective Sovereign people to elect public servants from amongst ourselves. However, in reality the so-called democratic leaders have been pre-selected for us by the wealthy and powerful corporations who finance the politicians' campaigns. Those elections have only given the illusion of democracy and are both a challenge and insult to our Collective Sovereign authority - reducing us to a level of voting for pre-selected leaders, signing useless petitions and participating in letter-writing campaigns of questionable origins, value and effects.  We are occasionally asked to vote simply yes or no on referendums, laws and restrictions of which we were not even part of the drafting or creating. Most times we are left out of decisions that directly impact our daily lives. We are told that our government knows best, or that certain knowledge is top secret and somehow beyond our authority.  We have increasingly become subject to licensing, registration, taxation and such restrictive laws that we no longer live or act in a free capacity.  We have become the “silent partner” in our own fate.

We often hear the claim that our nation is a democracy. That wasn’t the vision of the founders. They saw democracy as another form of tyranny. If we’ve become a democracy, I guarantee you that the founders would be deeply disappointed by our betrayal of their vision. The founders intended, and laid out the ground rules, for our nation to be a republic.

The word “democracy” appears nowhere in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution – two most fundamental documents of our nation. Instead of a democracy, the Constitution’s Article IV, Section 4, guarantees “to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government.” Moreover, let’s ask ourselves: Does our pledge of allegiance to the flag say to “the democracy for which it stands,” or does it say to “the republic for which it stands”? Or do we sing “The Battle Hymn of the Democracy” or “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”?
-info from several internet sites