Today most countries are true republics, meaning that the people choose their leaders. These republics practice a form of democracy. A democracy is any government in which the people have a say. The United States, Mexico, India, France, Kenya, South Korea, Peru, and Indonesia are only a few of the world’s many true republics.
Some countries call themselves republics simply because a monarch (a king or a queen) is not the leader. They are not always democracies.
Other countries practice democracy but are not really republics, either. In the United Kingdom the people vote for representatives in Parliament (the country’s lawmaking body). But they also have a monarch. However, the monarch has little real power.
