having the supreme power lying in the body of citizens entitled to vote for officers and representatives responsible to them or characteristic of such government
"the United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government"- United States Constitution; "a very republican notion"; "so little republican and so much aristocratic sentiment"- Philip Marsh; "our republican and artistic simplicity"-Nathaniel Hawthorne
is similar to
characterized by or advocating or based upon the principles of democracy or social equality
"democratic government"; "a democratic country"; "a democratic scorn for bloated dukes and lords"- George du Maurier