As I understand it,a true democracy is one in which all the common folk participate in legislation as in ancient Greece, while a republic is one in which elected reps perform the function

In California we have a sort of the former called the "ballot proposition". Special interests formulate an involute and complex prop favorable to their own economic security or partisan agenda, wording it in such a way that the hoi polloi (me) can't make a rational choice without a detailed understanding of its political implications

dalehileman