<P> Eugene Volokh of the UCLA School of Law notes that the United States exemplifies the varied nature of a democratic republic--a country where some decisions (often local) are made by direct democratic processes, while others (often federal) are made by democratically elected representatives . As with many large systems, US governance is incompletely described by any single term . It also employs the concept, for instance, of a constitutional democracy in which a court system is involved in matters of jurisprudence . </P> <P> As with other democracies, not all persons in a democratic republic are necessarily citizens, and not all citizens are necessarily entitled to vote . Suffrage is commonly restricted by criteria such as voting age . </P> <P> In the US, the notion that a republic was a form of democracy was common from the time of its founding, and the concepts associated with representative democracy (and hence with a democratic republic) are suggested by John Adams (writing in 1784): </P> <P> No determinations are carried, it is true, in a simple representative democracy, but by consent of the majority or their representatives . </P>

Difference between a republic and a democratic republic