Where everything is bipartisan until it is not.
A brief legislative meeting with no real business conducted, held solely to prevent the chamber from officially adjourning and thus blocking recess appointments or pocket vetoes. It's political theater where everyone admits they're just going through the motions.
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.
A political commentator who confidently predicts outcomes they have no special knowledge about, generating outrage and ratings in equal measure.
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.
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.'
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 verbose person who talks constantly and says almost everything in a misleading or dishonest way; basically all words, no truth.
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 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.