Democratic deficit

A democratic deficit (or democracy deficit) occurs when ostensibly-democratic organizations or institutions (particularly governments) fall short of fulfilling the principles of democracy in their practices or operation. Representative and linked parliamentary integrity have become widely discussed. The qualitative expression of the democratic deficit is the difference between the democracy indices of a country from the highest possible values.

The phrase "democratic deficit" is cited as first being used by the Young European Federalists in their Manifesto in 1977, which was drafted by Richard Corbett. It was also used by David Marquand in 1979, referring to the European Economic Community, the forerunner of the European Union.