>>15
Really? I always thought we had a combination of both. The Constitution and federalist paper #10 specifically state that the Founders intended to establish a republican form of government (the form of government, not the political party), and that representatives were suppose to be elected "democratically", meaning a representative democracy, as opposed to a direct democracy. The election of Senators were suppose to be elected through the state legislatures, but after the passage of the 17
th Amendment, they're popularly elected just like representatives in the House always were.
As for the way the two parties are today, yes, they don't stand for neither institutions they are named for, not to mention they don't even follow their party platforms strictly either.