Resign or take a demotion (4,4)
I believe the answer is:
step down
'resign' is the definition.
(I know that resign is a more specific form of the action resign)
'take a demotion' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'take' could be 'do' (eg taking or doing drugs) and 'do' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'or' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for step down that I've seen before include "Gradually reduce - resign" , "Resign, retire" , "decrease in output" , "Give up office" , "Withdraw from" .)