I don't understand this thingie about America being a republic. So is China. So is Germany. So is South Africa. Most countries in the world are republicans. It just means that they aren't monarchies. It has nothing to do with whether they are democracies or not. It's not a matter of a country either being a democracy or a republic. A country can be a democracy and a repulic, and it can be a fascist hell-hole and a republic.

All democracies in the current age are representative democracies. That could change now as a result of internet technology and there could be a direct vote on many issues (previously called referendums). It might be very wieldly, though.

What is interesting, though, is that America has something no other republic has - an electoral college. That, essentially, means that the USA is not a democracy. It is an oligarchy or a plutocracy. It is ruled by a powerful few.