The phrase
"democratic deficit" refers to a situation where there is a lack or insufficient involvement of citizens in the decision-making processes of a democratic system. This means that people might feel disconnected or disengaged from their government because their voices and opinions are not adequately heard or considered.
Full definition
There is a huge
democratic deficit in the government's action to redefine marriage; without any party even having hinted at it in their manifesto, it is arrogant and unacceptable.
Current Conservative policy is to tread lightly toward whatever Gordon Brown determines to be the centre ground and, therefore, English aspiration must be firmly suppressed because acknowledging that the English
democratic deficit exists might be seen as a lurch to the right.
Yes, E.U. institutions are hampered by the so -
called democratic deficit, and many Europeans can be forgiven for thinking that «eurocrats» in Brussels do not have their best interests at heart.
In the interim period, we will seek to end the hereditary principle and reduce the size of the current House of Lords as part of a wider package of constitutional reform to address the growing
democratic deficit across Britain.
It sheds light on a deeper
democratic deficit at the heart of many of today's established democracies in Europe and beyond.
New digital - only operators, while adding spark to the media ecosystem, lack the scale in Canada to fill these
emerging democratic deficits.
The transfer of policy - making power from popularly elected representatives to a judicial elite would seem to weaken democracy in a quite straightforward, zero - sum way, contributing to Europe's already
destabilising democratic deficit.
To understand why the Chartists were so abundantly confident that the People's Charter would remedy much more than just the yawning
democratic deficit left after the 1832 Reform Act, we need to appreciate that annual parliaments were just as integral to their demands as universal male suffrage.
The Electoral Reform Commission's report, Close the Gap: Tackling Europe's
Democratic Deficit recommends 12 measures that could close the gap between the EU and the British people.
BHA Faith Schools Campaigner Richy Thompson commented, «We have long been concerned about the lack of transparency and
democratic deficit involved in the Free Schools approval process.
Similarly, the proposal to give a more substantial role to national parliaments in policing the use of the subsidiarity principle (which determines where the EU is competent to legislate) echoes concerns expressed in other EU countries about a
widening democratic deficit.
Simon Woolley is one of the founders and Director of Operation Black Vote, which campaigns to address the black
political democratic deficit.
In spite of its result, the Scottish vote has certainly shed light, with a renewed emphasis, on the presence of a growing
democratic deficit across and within the nations of the UK, and in particular in England.
The fact that in recent years this has not been the case has represented a
serious democratic deficit and we are pleased that this is starting to be rectified.
It also helps undo some of
the democratic deficit caused by Britain's many safe seats, where voters have been effectively disenfranchised.
While truly «free and fair» elections are important, electoral integrity is not necessarily the most critical factor in addressing
the democratic deficit from which developing countries, especially fragile states, suffer.
We believe the under - representation of women in Westminster, the devolved assemblies, and town halls around the UK represents
a democratic deficit that undermines the legitimacy of decisions made in these chambers.
Yes
the democratic deficit will still be there, but then it has always been there, and those that see it as a particular priority already voted Yes in 2014.
This outcome represented a «
democratic deficit» and she would do all she could to protect Scotland's place in Europe.
Over the past two decades, the member states have consistently chosen to boost the latter's role in the decision - making process to address the problem of
the democratic deficit.
They addressed
the democratic deficit; corporate lobbying; the inability for representatives to propose legislation; and the lack of accountability.
This democratic deficit or distance that people are feeling so acutely is something which is colouring the EU debate and that is not helped by the fact that the arguments are so polarised — the EU is either all evil or it's all marvellous and most people have a sense it's somewhere in between which is why Corbyn's speech was so welcome.
The recently published Future of England Survey 2014 provides evidence for this argument with its conclusion that people in England see a «
democratic deficit» in the way they are governed («devo - anxiety»), and that one dimension of that deficit is a desire for civic engagement.
In its criticism of
the democratic deficit in Spain, has the 15M movement (initiated 15 May 2011 in Spain) challenged Philip Pettit's theory of republicanism which gave its intellectual authority to Zapatero's government?
Doesn't «eviscerated wreckage of a Party, saddled with out of touch policies» aptly describe the present Labour Party, all a result of
the democratic deficit initiated by Kinnock and completed by Blair?
Menzies Campbell wrote in April 2014 that
any democratic deficit had been addressed by creating the devolved Scottish Parliament, and that «Scotland and the Scottish have enjoyed influence beyond our size or reasonable expectation» within the British government and the wider political system.
[130] Conservative MP Daniel Kawczynski said in 2009 that the asymmetric devolution in place in the UK has created
a democratic deficit for England.
There is
a democratic deficit in these local - accountability arrangements.
For a Europe already concerned by the appearance of
a democratic deficit and of coercion by larger nations, it would pay to be wary of formalising the inequality of nations within the EU and of disenfranchising those at the edges.
But in overcoming
any democratic deficit, we should also remember the good work that takes place from peers in all parties, and also on the crossbenches.