demosclerosis

A government's decreasing ability to adapt or respond to social conditions or the needs of its people. According to Ronald E. Dear (“Social Welfare Policy;” in Richard L. Edwards [Ed.-in-Chief], Encyclopedia of Social Work, 19th ed., Washington: NASW Press, 1995), its causes include public opposition to increased taxation, distrust of government, indifference by political leaders, disagreement about goals, bureaucratic entrenchment and unresponsiveness, and the power and effort of interest groups and their political action committees to prevent change.