159 countries call themselves republics, but the label promises less than it sounds
In 2017, republic appeared in the official names of 159 out of 206 sovereign states. Not all of them have elected governments, and some states with elected governments do not use the word at all. The term has been slippery ever since Romans kept calling their empire a republic.
The word comes from the Latin res publica, the public thing or the people's affair. Cicero and other Latin writers used it to translate the Greek politeia, which simply meant a constitution or form of government; Plato's dialogue known in English as The Republic is titled Politeia. Aristotle seems to have been the first to use politeia for one particular type, a mixed government blending oligarchy and democracy, which he counted among the best forms.
Its modern sense grew from the constitution Rome adopted after overthrowing its kings in 509 BC: a Senate of wealthy aristocrats, popular assemblies of free citizens that elected magistrates and passed laws, and a range of magistracies. Rome went on describing itself as a republic even after the Empire was established in 27 BC. Polybius developed the theory of mixed government further, and Cicero's De re publica became the key Roman text in that tradition.
The word re-entered politics through Renaissance Italy. Late medieval writers such as Giovanni Villani described the self-governing cities of northern Italy as free peoples, but in the fifteenth century, with classical learning back in fashion, Leonardo Bruni adopted res publica for states without monarchs, and Machiavelli followed. In English, commonwealth long served as the translation, and it was the usual name for England's kingless state under Oliver Cromwell, though republic was also common.
Since the Age of Revolution a republic has mostly meant a state with a written constitution whose officials owe their legitimacy to popular consent rather than heredity or divine right. Modern republics legislate through elected representatives, whereas ancient ones such as Athens and Rome used assemblies of citizens. Scholars disagree about continuity: J. G. A. Pocock traced an unbroken republican tradition from antiquity to today, while others dispute it. Advocates of republics such as Montesquieu, Adams and Madison nonetheless drew heavily on Greek and Roman sources.
Source: Republic
