The quote is written incorrectly. Thomas Jefferson's real quote was... ""The REPUBLIC is the only form of government which is not eternally at open or secret war with the rights of mankind." And the definition of REPUBLIC is... a state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them. And by the way a Republican is defined in someone who favors the republic as the best form of government