Democratic republic

A democratic republic is, strictly speaking, a country that is both a republic and a democracy. It is one where ultimate authority and power is derived from the citizens, and the government itself is run through elected officials.

However, in recent practice, countries that have described themselves as democratic republics have not always held free or fair elections. Two examples of this were the German Democratic Republic and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, communist states commonly known as East Germany and North Vietnam.^[1] Another is the Democratic Republic of the Congo which in 2011 was rated by Freedom House as a "not free" country, having a rating of 6.0 (1.0 being completely free and 7.0 being completely unfree).^[2]

1 Current countries self-described as democratic republics
2 Former countries self-described as democratic republics
3 References
4 See also

Current countries self-described as democratic republics

Country	Since	Form of government
Democratic People's Republic of Korea	9 September 1948	Juche single-party socialist state
Democratic Republic of the Congo	30 June 1960	Semi-presidential republic
Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste	20 May 2002	Parliamentary republic
Democratic Republic of Nepal	28 May 2008	Republic
Lao People's Democratic Republic	2 December 1975	Marxist-Leninist single-party state
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka	22 May 1972	Democratic socialist semi-presidential republic
People's Democratic Republic of Algeria	5 July 1962	Semi-presidential republic
Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe	12 July 1975	Parliamentary republic
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia	August 1995	Parliamentary republic

Former countries self-described as democratic republics

Country	Since	Until	Form of government
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan	27 April 1978	28 April 1992	Single-party socialist state
German Democratic Republic	7 October 1949	3 October 1990	Marxist-Leninist socialist state
People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia	22 February 1987	27 May 1991	Marxist-Leninist single-party state
Somali Democratic Republic	21 October 1969	26 January 1991	Single-party socialist state
Democratic Republic of Madagascar	21 December 1975	19 August 1992	Single-party socialist state
Democratic Republic of the Sudan	8 May 1973	10 October 1985	Single-party state
Democratic Republic of Georgia	26 May 1918	25 February 1921	Republic
Azerbaijan Democratic Republic	28 May 1918	28 April 1920	Parliamentary republic
Democratic Republic of Armenia	18 May 1918	2 December 1920	Parliamentary republic
Democratic Republic of Vietnam	2 September 1945	2 July 1976	Single-party socialist state
People's Democratic Republic of Yemen	1 December 1970	22 May 1990	Marxist-Leninist single-party state
Democratic Republic of Yemen	21 May 1994	7 July 1994	Short-lived republic

References

^ Fulbrook, Mary (1997). Anatomy of a Dictatorship: Inside the GDR 1949-1989. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

^ "Combined Average Ratings - Independent Countries". Freedom House. 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.

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Democratic republic