Republicanism (Magna Terra)

With a **republic** being "the government of the people", thus, a form of government in which the people wield a notable amount of power, **republicanism** is a term generally referring to such a republic. Its definitions vary, but among the most common definitions of this word are: the advocacy for a republic, a term which denotes something of republican nature, a political ideology centered around citizenship/citizen participation in government, among others.

It should be noted that while a republic most often functions hand in hand with **democracy**, with a democratic republic being, arguably, the 'true' form of a republic, there have existed, throughout history, various movements which have rebranded the term "republic". For instance, due to its closeness with terms referencing personal freedom, the republic may just be used as an indicator of such freedoms, in spite of the citizenry/population of a such a republic not having an active role in its political life. A concrete example of this may be some socialist republics which have appeared throughout history, in which the people were the foundation of the socialist state's political motivations, but were not active directly in political life. This, however, is not to suggest that the notion of socialism is inertly separate from that of democracy, as various democratic socialist movements throughout time have demonstrated, such as that led by Michael Harrington in the United States of America. Likewise, some governments have mixed the values of democracy with those of monarchism, resulting in a mix of republic and monarchy in which both have varying amounts of political representation and relevance.

In Magna Terra, the republic is one of the primary forms of government adopted by the players, though direct democracy has rarely been truly implemented. As many authoritarian, sham and dominant-party democracies have operated in real life, as well as oligarchies, so have some of Magna Terra's strongest nations throughout its history. Nevertheless, there have also been "idealist states" which have hoped and fought for the preservation of democracy. Due to their low number, below is a list of them *(if you have information on any more republics which fit the aforementioned characteristics, please contact us on Discord via the community screen on the wiki)*:

* Persia in Iteration 2 (see here)
* Thailand in Iteration 3 (though the nation has become inactive)
* The Romanian Republic in Iteration 3

Besides these de facto and de jure republics, there have also existed a notable number of monarchies which have implemented democratic institutions to varying extents, as in real life. This option is probably seen as both moral and pragmatic by those who implement it, as, in the context of self-rule and political self-determination, it allows the people to represent themselves while also permitting a monarch to exercise their authority. This, however, can also result in a nation slowly developing into 'political paternalism' or, even worse, despotism, at the very least even worse in the context of democracy. Although much more rarely, the inverse can also happen, with the monarch's power being loosened in favor of the republican institutions in such a country.