Ok...
From Websters
Republic
1.
- A political order whose head of state is not a monarch and in modern times is usually a president.
- A nation that has such a political order.
2.
- A political order in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who are entitled to vote for officers and representatives responsible to them.
- A nation that has such a political order.
3. often Republic A specific republican government of a nation: the Fourth Republic of France.
4. An autonomous or partially autonomous political and territorial unit belonging to a sovereign federation.
5. A group of people working as equals in the same sphere or field: the republic of letters.
Democracy
1. Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives.
2. A political or social unit that has such a government.
3. The common people, considered as the primary source of political power.
4. Majority rule.
5. The principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community.
And yes I did check my terms, Representative Democracy (North America, Western Europe), Parliamentary Democracy (UK, Spain, Australia etc.), Constitutional Democracy (US, France, etc.), Consensus Democracy (Belguim, Switzerland...)
I could point to point on both Democracy, or Republic and add "not necessarily" to both lists (I still hold they're apples to oranges comparisons is the is the US a Republic or a Democracy?). All government systems are flawed, they're constructs of people, who are themselves flawed, and populated by politicians who are perhaps the most flawed.
I'm with Ayn Rand on Government anyway; it's there solely to protect personal freedoms and property, and should stay out everything else.