Republic

A republic is a form of government maintained by a state or country whose sovereignty is based on consent of the governed and whose governance is based on popular representation. Rule of law is an essential feature of a republic.

Often "republics" and monarchies are described as mutually exclusive. Defining a republic as a non-monarchy, a common short definition, is based on this idea. Although largely covering what is usually understood by a republic such definition has borderline issues. For example, the distinction between monarchy and republic was not always made as it is in modern times; oligarchies are traditionally considered neither monarchy nor republic,; and such definition depends very much on the monarch concept, which has various definitions, not making clear which of these is used for defining republic.

The detailed organization of republics' governments can vary widely. The first section of this article gives an overview of the distinctions that characterise different types of non-fictional republics. The second section of the article gives short profiles of some of the most influential republics, by way of illustration. A more comprehensive List of republics appears in a separate article. The third section is about how republics are approached as state organisations in political science: in political theory and political science, the term "republic" is generally applied to a state where the government's political power depends solely on the consent, however nominal, of the people governed.