having people in charge makes it a republic.  direct democracy would be voting on everything.<p>most technically we call ourselves a Federal Republic <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Federal_republic" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Federal_republic</a>