<P> In the example of the United States, the original 13 British colonies became independent states after the American Revolution, each having a republican form of government . These independent states initially formed a loose confederation called the United States and then later formed the current United States by ratifying the current U.S. Constitution, creating a union of sovereign states with the union or federal government also being a republic . Any state joining the union later was also required to be a republic . </P> <P> The term republic originated from the writers of the Renaissance as a descriptive term for states that were not monarchies . These writers, such as Machiavelli, also wrote important prescriptive works describing how such governments should function . These ideas of how a government and society should be structured is the basis for an ideology known as classical republicanism or civic humanism . This ideology is based on the Roman Republic and the city states of Ancient Greece and focuses on ideals such as civic virtue, rule of law and mixed government . </P> <P> This understanding of a republic as a distinct form of government from a liberal democracy is one of the main theses of the Cambridge School of historical analysis . This grew out of the work of J.G.A. Pocock who in 1975 argued that a series of scholars had expressed a consistent set of republican ideals . These writers included Machiavelli, Milton, Montesquieu and the founders of the United States of America . </P> <P> Pocock argued that this was an ideology with a history and principles distinct from liberalism . These ideas were embraced by a number of different writers, including Quentin Skinner, Philip Pettit and Cass Sunstein . These subsequent writers have further explored the history of the idea, and also outlined how a modern republic should function . </P>

Who makes the laws in a republic government