<P> Presently, the term "republic" commonly means a system of government which derives its power from the people rather than from another basis, such as heredity or divine right . </P> <P> While the philosophical terminology developed in classical Greece and Rome, as already noted by Aristotle there was already a long history of city states with a wide variety of constitutions, not only in Greece but also in the Middle East . After the classical period, during the Middle Ages, many free cities developed again, such as Venice . </P> <P> The modern type of "republic" itself is different from any type of state found in the classical world . Nevertheless, there are a number of states of the classical era that are today still called republics . This includes ancient Athens, Sparta and the Roman Republic . While the structure and governance of these states was very different from that of any modern republic, there is debate about the extent to which classical, medieval, and modern republics form a historical continuum . J.G.A. Pocock has argued that a distinct republican tradition stretches from the classical world to the present . Other scholars disagree . Paul Rahe, for instance, argues that the classical republics had a form of government with few links to those in any modern country . </P> <P> The political philosophy of the classical republics have in any case had an influence on republican thought throughout the subsequent centuries . Philosophers and politicians advocating for republics, such as Machiavelli, Montesquieu, Adams, and Madison, relied heavily on classical Greek and Roman sources which described various types of regimes . </P>

Who makes the decisions in a republic government