Opposition political parties decided to turn what they considered to be an essentially undemocratic concept -the one-man plebiscite - into a democratic event by actively campaigning against General Pinochet.

The EU's essentially undemocratic nature allowed elites to push through the euro - not something which the people of Europe ever demanded or, in most northern countries, even supported with much enthusiasm.

Although it may seem strange to those used to modern liberal democracy, the Athenian Greeks considered elections to be essentially undemocratic.

For one thing, it suggests that the politics of erotic desire are essentially undemocratic.

At a very early stage in the evolution of the UDC concept, major political leaders in east London pointed out their essentially undemocratic nature.

He remained anti-capitalist, writing: "I hate capitalism and everything that goes with it", but was similarly disillusioned with socialism, finding the Soviet Union "essentially undemocratic" and the Communist Party rigid and doctrinaire.

Even art - an essentially undemocratic achievement by extraordinarily gifted individuals - is thrust into a marketplace marked by clamorous demands for democratic distribution.

She makes an argument that the office of the presidency is essentially undemocratic, and she calls for greater participation by citizens at the local level.

For like the bureaucratic system it mirrors, technocratic planning is essentially undemocratic.

"Since Israel is a democratic state surrounded by essentially undemocratic states which have sworn her destruction," he once declared, "those interested in democracy everywhere must support Israel's existence."