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Why do authoritarian states have 'Democratic' or 'People's' in their names? (thelemmy.club)
submitted 17 hours ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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Many countries include 'Democratic' or 'People's' in their names, even though they are not democratic and do not serve their people. Examples: Democratic People's Republic of Korea Lao People's Democratic Republic People's Democratic Republic of Algeria Democratic Republic of the Congo And German Democratic Republic (East Side) in 1949–1990. None of these states are democratic, power and wealth are concentrated in the hands of a small ruling elite. Who are they fooling with these names?

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[–] 11 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

"Of" being the operative part of the name. United States OF America. Derivative of the land name given by the European explorers. While it's incorrect to just say "America," you'd probably just be considered annoying if you went around reminding people or pretending not to get it.

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  • [–] 0 points 13 hours ago (1 child)

    While it’s incorrect to just say “America,”

    No. It is not incorrect. It is simply that "America" can refer to the USA, or it can refer to a continent if you consider NA/SA to be a single continent. Similarly, "Georgia" is a US state but also a country.

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