against English monarchy, while the French republic came into being as
the result of the destruction of a monarchical government. Most of the
republics of Latin America date from the throwing off of the Spanish
yoke in the first half of the nineteenth century. More recently, the
World War has given rise to a number of European republics, composed
of peoples formerly under the control of monarchical governments.

15. DEMOCRACY AS A POLITICAL IDEA.--The term democracy is derived from
two Greek words which taken together mean "control by the people."
Strictly speaking, democracy is a _form_ of government only where a
small group governs itself directly, _i.e.,_ without making use of the
representative device. This "pure" democracy, such as existed in the
early New England town, becomes a representative democracy, or a
republic, when a greater population and an increasing political
complexity require the people to act through their representatives,
rather than as a body. In the sense that democracy is popular control,
the term democracy may conceivably be applied to any form of
government. The present government of Great Britain, for example, is
technically a limited monarchy, yet the gradual extension of popular
control has made it one of the most democratic governments in the
world. Nevertheless, the modern republic is so generally associated
with the democratic movement that many authorities speak of a
democracy as identical with a republic. For the time being we may use
the term democracy to describe a form of government in which
considerable control is exercised by the people. More briefly,
democracy may be thought of as self-government.

16. WHY DEMOCRACY DEVELOPED IN AMERICA.--There are four reasons why
democracy developed early in America.