Constitutional republic
From Libertarian Wiki
A constitutional republic is a state where the head of state and other officials are elected as representatives of the people and must govern according to existing constitutional law that limits the government's power over citizens.
The fact that a constitution exists that limits the government's power, makes the state constitutional. That the head(s) of state and other officials are chosen by election, rather than inheriting their positions, and that their decisions are subject to judicial review makes a state republican. Unlike a pure democracy, in a constitutional republic, citizens are not governed by the majority of the people but by the rule of law; popular vote is limited to electing representatives who govern within limits of overarching constitutional law rather than the popular vote having legislative power itself.
A constitutional republic is a form of liberal democracy, but not all liberal democracies are constitutional republics. For example, monarchies may also be liberal democracies provided that elected representatives govern according to constitutional law (constitutional monarchy).
Constitutional Republics are a deliberate attempt to diminish the threat of mobocracy thereby protecting minority groups from the tyranny of the majority.
The notion of constitiutional republic origniates with Aristotle's Politics and his notion of the polity. He Contrasts the polity or repulican government with democracy and oligarchy in book 3, chapter 6 of the Politics.
Constitutional republics are advocated by classical liberals. The United States of America is the oldest constitutional republic in the world and the first comprehensive experiment in this conceived form of government.
