Happy Birthday to our Republic!

A lot of Americans think we live in a democracy. Nope. We don't. Our founding fathers went to a lot of trouble to make sure of that and with good reason.
A democracy is majority rule and there's no law to prevent the individual's rights from being trampled. You might say a lynch mob is a good example of democracy in action.
A republic, on the other hand, consists of public officials who have been elected by the people to serve them. Hopefully the people made a good choice and the public officials are well suited for the job (you may all laugh now). A republic also requires a constitution and a system of checks and balances that keep everything running smoothly and protects our individual rights.
So, it seems that it's really up to each individual just how well the Republic runs. Have you done your part?