Republicanism in the United States
Republicanism is different than other forms of democracy.  In a "pure" democracy, the majority rules.  If a majority of the people voted to take rights away from a certain group, that is what would happen.  Alexis de Tocqueville, a famous French political thinker, called this the "tyranny of the majority."  He meant that a pure democracy could still turn into an unfair, unequal, corrupt society if the majority of the people decided to take away others' rights.