Bryan,

To be honest, I have to disagree with the premise of your answer.

First and foremost, you are calling our country a republic based on the Pledge of Allegiance, which has no basis in law, and was not written by any government or accepted canon. In fact, it was written by the circulation manager of a Boston-based magazine in 1892. Personally, I would not consider this to be a reliable source when writing about the foundations of our government.

Second, even given your definition of the word, (exercise of...power is lodged in representatives elected by the people), this is exactly what a democracy is. This is why our government is called a representative democracy. If you read a previous post I made, you will see my reasons for wanting representatives to enact the laws rather than having a direct democracy and voting myself.

I believe our country has a democratic system. Obviously, it is not a perfect system, but it is the best we can have right now based on the material we have to work with.

-Britt

P.S. The definition of the word "republic" has been updated from the 1828 definition you used. The text has been changed to "...in which the sovereign power resides in the whole body of the people, and is exercised by representatives elected by them" with a cross-reference to the word "democracy."