democratic deficit

noun

A situation when ostensibly democratic organizations or institutions (particularly governments) are seen to be falling short of fulfilling the principles of the parliamentary democracy in their practices or operation where representative and linked parliamentary integrity becomes widely discussed.

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Meanings

noundemocratic deficit (plural democratic deficits)

plural democratic deficits

  1. governmentA situation when ostensibly democratic organizations or institutions (particularly governments) are seen to be falling short of fulfilling the principles of the parliamentary democracy in their practices or operation where representative and linked parliamentary integrity becomes widely discussed.

    The euro was launched with a fundamental democratic deficit, which didn’t trouble the European elite behind it because they had come to believe in a version of manifest destiny.

    2011, John Lanchester, Once Greece goes…

Origin

First used by the Young European Federalists in their Manifesto in 1977.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish demokratiavaje
  • demokratiavajesituation in which principles of parliamentary democracy are not fulfilled
Cite this entry
APA

democratic deficit. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/democratic%20deficit

MLA

“democratic deficit.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/democratic%20deficit. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “democratic deficit,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/democratic%20deficit.

Source: democratic deficit on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.