democratic deficit

British

noun

any situation in which there is believed to be a lack of democratic accountability and control over the decision-making process

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But if we can identify the Senate as one of the key sources of an unacceptable democratic deficit, then we can look for other ways to enhance democracy in the American system.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 24, 2023

Earlier, the former secretary of state and now Labour Peer, Lord Murphy, told the House of Lords that the absence of the Northern Ireland Assembly and executive created "a democratic deficit".

From BBC • Mar. 2, 2023

"That issue, that central issue of sovereignty and democratic deficit, has to be addressed."

From Reuters • Feb. 17, 2023

There's been considerable chatter over the past few years about the crisis of democracy — sometimes more clinically described as a "democratic recession" or "democratic deficit."

From Salon • Sep. 6, 2021

Another of 2018’s lessons, therefore, is that the climate-change movement faces a democratic deficit.

From Washington Post • Dec. 10, 2018

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023