What does undemocratic mean?
Und democratic describes something that contradicts or undermines democracy. A decision, institution, political system, or distribution of power may be called undemocratic when it denies citizens meaningful participation, bypasses representative institutions, restricts voting rights, or treats a privileged group as entitled to control others. The term is generally more accusatory than the neutral expression non-democratic: merely being non-democratic can be a matter of classification, whereas calling something undocratic implies that democratic principles have been violated. Undemocratic is especially common in political, legal, and social commentary, although it can describe any process that excludes or unfairly overrides the people affected by a decision. Its construction clearly links the concept to democracy, making it a useful term for distinguishing between systems that formally permit participation and those that genuinely allow popular control.
adjectiveContradicting or failing to uphold democratic principles, such as equal participation, popular representation, or the right to vote.
- Contradicting democratic principles or excluding meaningful popular participation.
"The committee criticized the opaque selection process as undemocratic and unfair."
"Voting rights were restricted in a plainly undemocratic fashion."
"Her essay warns that allowing a single official to veto the decision would be undemocratic."
Calling a choice undocratic is stronger than saying it is merely non-democratic: it implies that the democratic process itself has been undermined.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does undemocratic come from?
The word is an English compound of the prefix un- and democratic, indicating opposition to democratic principles. Democratic ultimately comes from Greek dēmos, meaning “people,” and kratos, meaning “power” or “strength,” through the combining form -cratic. Words such as democracy and democrat develop from the same Greek elements, while autocratic shares the element -cratic, ultimately derived from kratos.
Related word forms
How undemocratic is actually used
This is a formal and strongly evaluative term. It is commonly used for institutions, systems, procedures, and decisions, and it normally indicates more than a technical failure to follow democratic rules. The pronunciation has /ɒ/ in British English and /ɑː/ in American English.
Easily confused with undemocratic
Non-democratic means simply not democratic, while undemocratic more strongly suggests a violation of democratic principles.