Is our government a democracy or a republic? What is the difference? We hear a lot of people in the news talking about our democracy. The term democracy means government by the people, a form of government in which the supreme power is lodged in the hands of the people, according to Webster’s 1828 Dictionary. In a true purist form of a democracy, as in Athens, Greece, all citizens would gather and vote on an issue and the majority would rule. Our form of government is a republic. In a republic, we elect representatives to do the will of the people.