Republicanism is the school of thought which espouses appointment of the head of state using a method other than heredity, usually elections.
 
 
Recommended Resources
Scribd.com presents the full text by Iseult Honohan, in his series, The Problems of Philosophy, which introduces the concept of civic republicanism as an alternative to liberalism.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6937493/Civic-Republicanism
Genuine Self-Determination Means Acting as Republicans Now
With a focus on the politics of Scotland and the United Kingdom, Allan Armstrong discusses the subject of republicanism, which he prepared for a workshop on Republicanism at the Radical Independence Conference in Glasgow on November 24, 2012.
http://republicancommunist.org/blog/tag/republicanism/
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Republicanism
Delves into the definition of the political school of thought, and breaks down into sections about political liberty, republican liberty, and the classical republican tradition.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/republicanism/
Follows the history of the birth and growth of the American Republican Party in words and pictures.
http://www.librarycompany.org/Republican/exhibition/ExhibitionIntro.htm