A Democracy/Republic cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It will only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits with other people's money, the result which eventually collapses society, because the loose fiscal policy ensuing destroys economic wealth and property via debt, which as Democracies in the past have shown, is always followed by a dictatorship.
Paraphrased from DeToqueville.