Democratic republic

A democratic republic is, strictly speaking, a country that is both a republic and a democracy. It is one where ultimate authority and power is derived from the citizens, and the government itself is run through elected officials.

However, in recent practice, countries that have described themselves as democratic republics have not always held free or fair elections. Two examples of this were the German Democratic Republic and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, communist states commonly known as East Germany and North Vietnam.^[1] Another is the Democratic Republic of the Congo which in 2011 was rated by Freedom House as a "not free" country, having a rating of 6.0 (1.0 being completely free and 7.0 being completely unfree).^[2] Also, the 'Democratic People's Republic of Korea', commonly known as North Korea, is rated the least democratic in the world, run by a dictator. A republic is a state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote.

Current countries self-described as democratic republics

Country	Since	Form of government	Freedom House freedom rating
Democratic People's Republic of Korea	9 September 1948	Juche one-party state	Not free^
Democratic Republic of the Congo	30 June 1960	Semi-presidential republic	Not free
Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste	20 May 2002	Semi-presidential republic	Partly free
Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal	28 May 2008	Parliamentary republic	Partly free
Lao People's Democratic Republic	2 December 1975	Marxist-Leninist one-party state	Not free
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka	22 May 1972	Democratic socialist semi-presidential republic	Partly free
People's Democratic Republic of Algeria	5 July 1962	Semi-presidential republic	Not free
Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe	12 July 1975	Semi-presidential republic	Free
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia	August 1995	Parliamentary republic	Not free

Former countries self-described as democratic republics

Country	Since	Until	Form of government
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan	27 April 1978	28 April 1992	One-party socialist state
German Democratic Republic	7 October 1949	3 October 1990	Marxist-Leninist socialist state
People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia	22 February 1987	27 May 1991	Marxist-Leninist one-party state
Somali Democratic Republic	21 October 1969	26 January 1991	One-party socialist state
Democratic Republic of Madagascar	21 December 1975	19 August 1992	One-party socialist state
Democratic Republic of the Sudan	8 May 1973	10 October 1985	One-party state
Democratic Republic of Georgia	26 May 1918	25 February 1921	Republic
Azerbaijan Democratic Republic	28 May 1918	28 April 1920	Parliamentary republic
Democratic Republic of Vietnam	2 September 1945	2 July 1976	One-party socialist state
People's Democratic Republic of Yemen	1 December 1970	22 May 1990	Marxist-Leninist one-party state
Democratic Republic of Yemen	21 May 1994	7 July 1994	Short-lived republic