[dragonwriter]

> being a republic does not preclude being democratic.

No, but the particular form of the US republic does so in practice.

> The United States is a democracy.

The United States may have been built around an idea of representative democracy, but in function it is more of a plutocratic republic with quasi-democratic rituals.

[jakelazaroff]

Oof, “democratic rituals” is an uncomfortably accurate description of voting in the U.S.

[charles_f]

> quasi-democratic rituals

"We're doing stand-ups and we use story points, we're agile"