A fairly interesting article here, talking about setting up a new government for Iraq. More interesting (and the reason I found it) is the discussion of why the US was intentionally created as a Constitutional Republic and not as a Democracy.

The American Constitution is a limitation on the power of government, not on private individuals. Our Founders feared the anarchy of mob rule as much as the tyranny of an oppressive king. They established a constitutional republic, not a pure democracy.

Without limits, democracy amounts to what Benjamin Franklin described as, “two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.”