Flag impoverished Democrat raised? (5)
I believe the answer is:
droop
'flag' is the definition.
('droop' can be a synonym of 'flag')
'impoverished democrat raised?' is the wordplay.
'impoverished' becomes 'poor' ('poor' can be similar in meaning to 'impoverished').
'democrat' becomes 'd'.
'raised?' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'poor'+'d'='poord'
'poord' written backwards gives 'DROOP'.
(Other definitions for droop that I've seen before include "Grow faint" , "male problem?" , "Sag wearily" , "Flag" , "Dangle" .)