Well republic or democracy, we are NOT as democratic as the government would like us to beleive. It's pretty much the same as all (or at least most) other countries where the rich have all the power and the poor have none. The only difference being that it's covered up in a way that seemingly gives us a choice, while it actually barely gives us a choice (our only 'choices' being when there are politions that DON'T lie... feel free to give an example if one exists... George Washington?)

I'm actually in American History right now, and the founding fathers really did create a very good system. The only problem is that they trusted everyone else to follow it exactly. In fact, most of them were strict constructionists, meaning they believed the federal government had ONLY the rights stated in the Constitution. Nearly everyone after them thought the opposite. I seem to remember there being a clause somewhere along the lines of "All powers not hereby mentioned are granted to the state" (amendment 10?) that pretty much makes almost everything the government does 'illegal', technically speaking.

Of course, it all depends how you interpret the Constitution. Unfortunately, government officials like to interpret it the way that benefits them and only them.