democratic Hear it!

democratic Definition

demo·cratic (dem′ə krat′ik)

adjective

  1. of, belonging to, or upholding democracy or a democracy
  2. of, for, or popular with all or most people a democratic art form
  3. treating persons of all classes in the same way; not snobbish
  4. of, belonging to, or characteristic of the Democratic Party

Etymology: Fr démocratique < ML democraticus < Gr dēmokratikos

Related Forms:

democratic Synonyms

democratic

modif.

popular, constitutional, orderly, just, representative, republican, egalitarian, populist, Jeffersonian, free, equal, advocating democracy, characterized by principles of political equality, common, bourgeois, individualistic, communal, laissez-faire; see also free 1, liberal 2, republican.

Antonyms autocratic*, elitist*, oligarchic.

Democratic Usage Examples

Preposition: in

  • order: For its existence, the government had to appear democratic in order to enjoy external sympathy and support, on which it survives.
  • spirit: Although rather autocratic by nature, Jones was a convinced egalitarian in his principles so that the Society soon became thoroughly democratic in spirit.

Adjective complement with noun phrase

  • make: They both facilitate healthy debate, making society more democratic.
  • keep: Now we face a new struggle to keep the party democratic.

Modifies a noun

  • accountability: The left remedy was, however, more democratic accountability.
  • deficit: There will be nothing about the democratic deficit, or about the many problems being created by the euro.
  • centralism: Ninth: A permanent regime of democratic centralism in the unified party.
  • legitimacy: This school of thought puts the idea of identity into the focus of the search for democratic legitimacy.
  • republic: I desire anarchy, and I am happy to be the leader of such movement, while a peoples democratic republic is constructed.
  • society: The modern, open, democratic society with a market economy was born.

Modifying Another Word

  • genuinely: Can a society based on these two principles also be genuinely democratic?
  • supposedly: Was its location in the New World or its supposedly democratic political tradition of any consequence?
  • truly: No truly democratic government in Iraq would long be able to defer to such U.S. interests.
  • profoundly: The program of the communists in Germany is informed by this profoundly democratic approach.
  • formally: How long will the Iranian regime formally democratic but in practice, largely theocratic endure?

Used with adjective complement

  • become: Contrary to those who tell us that Respect will become more democratic once it has had some success, the reverse is true.
  • seem: On paper, linking debt relief to completion of national Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers ( PRSPs ) seemed democratic.
  • make: How can the House of Lord be made more democratic?
  • appear: It all appears so shockingly democratic, but still arty enough to merit coverage.
democratic Quotes

   Therearetwo ideas of government.Therearethose who believethat, if you will only legislatetomakethewell-to- do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea, however, has been that if you legislateto make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up through every class which rests upon them.

—Bryan,WilliamJennings

The Democratic Intellect.

—Davie, George Elder

Some people swim lakes, others climb flagpoles, some join monasteries, but we, my friends, who have considered suicide take our daily walk with death and are not lonely. In the end it brings more honesty and care than all the democratic parliaments of tricks.

—Webb, Phyllis

There is nothing new inThird World governments seeking to justifyand perpetuate authoritarian rule by denouncing liberal democratic principles as alien.

—Aung San Suu Kyi

Fig leaves of democratic procedure to hide the nakedness of Stalinist dictatorship.

—Kennan, George Frost

During my lifetime I have dedicated my life to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideals of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hopeto live for, and toseerealized.But My Lord, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

—Mandela, Nelson Rolihlahla

The elitist attitude is basically suspicious of, and hostile to, themarket precisely becausethemarket issovulgarly democraticöone dollar, one vote.

—Krasna, Norman

  The Democratic Party has succeeded so well that many of its members are now Republicans.

—O'Neill,Thomas P known as  'Tip'

Our whole history inclines us towards the democratic powers.Our renaissance is a logical link between us and the democracies of the west.

—Masaryk,Toma¤  s Garrigue

He who first shortened the labour of copyists by device of MovableTypes was disbanding hired armies, and cashiering most Kings and Senates, and creating a whole newdemocratic world: hehad inventedtheart of printing.

—Carlyle,Thomas