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Politics & Government vocabulary · Political Systems

Republic

Meaning in politics & government, with examples

/rɪˈpʌblɪk/nounCore term

In politics & government, republic means: A state in which power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and the head of state is not a king or queen but usually an elected president.

In Turkish: cumhuriyet

How it is used

Used in country names and in political science. A country becomes or proclaims a republic. Common phrases are parliamentary republic and presidential republic. The word comes from Latin res publica, meaning the public matter.

Example sentences

  1. The country became a republic after the monarchy was abolished.

  2. Students compared parliamentary republics with constitutional monarchies.

Common collocations

  • proclaim a republic
  • parliamentary republic
  • presidential republic
  • Republic Day
  • monarchyA system in which a king, queen or other hereditary ruler is the head of state; also a country with this system.
  • democracyA system of government in which power belongs to the people, who choose their leaders in free elections and can replace them; also a country governed in this way.
  • presidentThe head of state in a republic. In presidential systems the president also leads the government, while in parliamentary systems the role is often mainly ceremonial.
  • head of stateThe person who officially represents a country at home and abroad, such as a president or monarch; in some systems the role is mainly ceremonial.
  • stateA country considered as a political organization with its own government, laws and territory; also the permanent institutions that govern it.

More terms: Political Systems

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