In order to know the meaning of the term debacle, it is necessary, first of all, to proceed to discover its etymological origin. In this case we can state that it derives from the French “débacle”, which can be translated as “disaster” and that it is the result of the sum of two very different parts:
-The prefix “de-”, which is used to indicate denial.
-The verb “bacler”, which means “to close the door with a piece of wood”.
That French word, in turn, we cannot fail to point out that it comes from the Vulgar Latin “bacculare”.
The concept is used in reference to a collapse , a calamity , a disaster or a hecatomb .
For example: “The country's debacle began with the coup d'état that overthrew the constitutional president,” “The person responsible for the team's debacle is the coach,” “I am very worried about the company's economic debacle.”
The idea is usually associated with a symbolic collapse . Something that was well built or functioning correctly collapses in a process that can be described as a debacle.
Take the case of an NGO aimed at helping the poor people of a country. The organization was receiving donations from citizens and subsidies from the government when it is discovered that its president was keeping the funds. This person is imprisoned, but people stop collaborating with the NGO and the government withdraws support. In addition, in the case of corruption, the entire board of directors resigns. This is how the debacle of the organization occurs, which ends up closing its doors.
In the same way, we cannot ignore that the term debacle is widely used within the political sphere. Specifically, it is used to refer to some of the results of the elections that are carried out. Thus, for example, when it is said that a party has experienced an electoral debacle, what is being exposed is that it has lost many votes compared to the polls and even compared to previous elections.
Likewise, there is also talk of the electoral debacle of a candidate when he was expected to be the winner of the elections and not only does he fail to be, but he also has a much lower percentage of votes than he expected. What this situation can clearly lead to is that that candidate makes the decision to stop leading his party at that level and give the position to another person who believes that he can significantly improve his results in future elections.
A sector of the economy , for its part, may suffer a debacle due to political measures that harm it. The authorities of a country, to cite one case, decide to free up footwear imports and force an increase in costs for local manufacturers by increasing taxes. The national footwear industry, in this context, is facing a debacle : producing is very expensive and foreign competition causes sales to fall.