Where everything is bipartisan until it is not.
An amendment or provision added to legislation specifically to make it unpalatable to opponents or even proponents, sabotaging the bill's chances. It's political sabotage dressed as policy contribution.
The systematic process of surveying a representative sample of voters or population to gauge opinions, predict election outcomes, or validate policy support. Politicians obsess over it; statisticians argue about its accuracy.
An official ban on something people definitely still want to do, proving that making things illegal just makes them more expensive and exciting. It's the formal act of forbidding specific activities or substances, most famously applied to alcohol in the 1920s with predictably chaotic results. The government's way of saying 'trust us, we know what's best for you.'
A political commentator who confidently predicts outcomes they have no special knowledge about, generating outrage and ratings in equal measure.
The margin between what polls predicted and what actually happened—usually blamed on pollsters rather than on the people who commissioned the polls or acted on them.
The deliberate process of reconciling conflicting parties and facilitating agreement between previously hostile groups—diplomacy's greatest hits album.
Government spending allocated specifically to regional projects designed to curry favor with voters, regardless of actual merit or necessity. It's taxpayer money masquerading as economic stimulus, usually strategically timed before elections.
A voting system where voters rank candidates by preference, ensuring second and third choices count if no one wins outright—democracy's way of saying 'we'll count what you really want, not just your first impulse.' Common in progressive jurisdictions that believe your ballot should reflect nuance.
An initial election within a political party to select the candidate for the general election, allowing party members to choose between ideological variants of basically the same group.
A legislative official whose job is to enforce party discipline by convincing, threatening, or bribing fellow party members to vote the right way, which sounds dystopian but is basically just normal politics.
A verbose person who talks constantly and says almost everything in a misleading or dishonest way; basically all words, no truth.
A bureaucrat, politician, or institutional mastermind who designs rules from the comfort of abstraction, confident that other people will deal with the messy reality. Policymakers craft the grand strategies while staffers handle the actual paperwork.
Insider shorthand for a politician—a word used by political reporters, lobbyists, and cynics who don't have time for full syllables. It's the verbal equivalent of a knowing smirk about the state of governance.
A religious office granting authority to perform sacred rites and represent a religious community spiritually. In traditions like the LDS Church, it's a hierarchical system of spiritual authority—basically religion's version of a corporate ladder.
The practice of granting favors (like government jobs) to political allies as rewards for support—basically organized nepotism with a government paycheck.
A political approach claiming to represent the interests of ordinary people against an elite establishment—essentially harnessing anger and resentment into a coherent governing philosophy.