The following definitions were procured from Wikipedia and Encyclopedia.TheFreeDictionary on October 13, 2012:
COMMUNISM: com·mu·nism/ˈkämyəˌnizəm/
Noun:
(from Latin communis – common, universal) is a revolutionary socialist movement to create a classless, moneyless, and stateless social order structured upon common ownership of the means of production, as well as a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of this social order.
SOCIALISM: so·cial·ism/ˈsōSHəˌlizəm/
Noun:
A political and economic theory of that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated…
(in Marxist theory) A transitional social state between the overthrow of capitalism and the realization of communism.
TOTALITARIANISM: to·tal·i·tar·i·an·ism \(ˌ)tō-ˌta-lə-ˈter-ē-ə-ˌni-zəm\
Noun:
dictatorship: a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.)
DEMOCRACY: de·moc·ra·cy/diˈmäkrəsē/
Noun:
A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.
A state governed in such a way.
REPUBLIC: re·pub·lic/riˈpəblik/
Noun:
A state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president…
Synonyms:
commonwealth: com·mon·wealth/ˈkämənˌwelTH/
Noun:
An independent country or community, esp. a democratic republic.
An aggregate or grouping of countries or other bodies.
Synonyms:
republic – state – federation
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC:
2012: A democratic republic is a country that is both a republic and a democracy. It is one where ultimate authority and power is derived from the citizens. However, in practice countries that describe themselves as democratic republics do not always hold free or fair elections.
2021: Starting in the 20th century after World War II, many countries used the term “democratic republic” in their official names — most of which were Marxist-Leninist, or socialist, one-party states — that did not allow political opposition, free press or other democratic norms and institutions.
These include states no longer in existence or who have changed their governmental systems and official names, (almost all Marxist-Leninist): the German Democratic Republic (aka East Germany), the Somali Democratic Republic, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (aka North Vietnam), the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (aka South Yemen), the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
States which (as of 2022) use the term “Democratic Republic” in their official names also include many that do not hold free elections and have been rated as “undemocratic” or “unfree” by organizations that gave such ratings. Algeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, North Korea, Laos, and Nepal, do not hold free elections and are rated as undemocratic “hybrid regimes” or “authoritarian regimes” by the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index, and “not free” by (the U.S.-based, U.S.-government-funded non-governmental organization) Freedom House.
In addition there are a few countries which use the term “Democratic Republic” in the name and have a good track of holding free or relatively free general elections and were rated “flawed democracy” or “full democracy” in the Democracy Index, such as the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.
(Encyclopedia.TheFreeDictionary.com)
2012: The term “Democratic Republic” has formed part of several states’ official names. Today it is largely meaningless, due to the fact that many “democratic republics” are not liberal democracies, as well as the fact that many republics that are democratic don’t use the title of “democratic republic” in their official names.
Democratic Republics tend to be either ex-colonies (Congo, Sri Lanka, Algeria, etc.) who achieved independence after breaking away from an imperialist power, or communist states that were created after the overthrow of a capitalist regime (since communists regard capitalism as inherently undemocratic). In particular, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) gave themselves the title of “Democratic Republics” as a way of implying that their rivals – West Germany, South Vietnam and South Korea – were not democratic (as is sometimes the case, such as in South Vietnam).
While these communist states are widely regarded as being dictatorships themselves, their use of democratic rhetoric and the term “Democratic Republic” are often cited as proof that democracy forms an integral part of communist ideology, and that even a dictatorship must claim to be democratic if it wants to call itself communist.
