The term DEM. OR REP. refers to the two major political parties in the United States, the Democratic PARTY and the Republican PARTY. The acronym POL stands for 'POLITICIAN' and PTY stands for 'PARTY'. Therefore, the crossword solutions DEM. OR REP. indicate that a POLITICIAN can be either a Democrat or a Republican. The Democratic PARTY is generally considered to be more liberal, while the Republican PARTY is generally considered to be more conservative.