Democratic equals rush clear (9)
I believe the answer is:
discharge
'clear' is the definition.
(I know that clear can be written as discharge)
'democratic equals rush' is the wordplay.
'democratic' becomes 'd' (political abbreviation).
'equals' becomes 'is' ('be' can be a synonym of 'equal').
'rush' becomes 'charge' (charging is a kind of rushing).
'd'+'is'+'charge'='DISCHARGE'
(Other definitions for discharge that I've seen before include "Acquit" , "Fire (gun); sack (worker)" , "pay" , "unload" , "let go" .)