Where everything is bipartisan until it is not.
The mathematical certainty that whoever holds office already will probably keep it, because they have more money, name recognition, and gerrymandered districts. The deck is stacked.
A vote where each member's position is recorded on the public record, making it easy for opponents to run ads about how you voted against popular things.
The process of systematically improving or restructuring an organization, system, or individual behavior—often announced with great fanfare and delivered with variable success rates.
A 2010 Supreme Court decision that basically ruled 'corporations are people and money is speech'—fundamentally transforming American politics into an open auction.
The legitimate right to command obedience, enforce rules, and generally tell people what to do—whether earned through expertise, position, or gunpower. The opposite of 'suggestions.'
A fine-tuning, correction, or settlement made to an agreement, policy, or financial account. The polite term for 'we're changing the rules slightly' or 'we need to fix what was wrong.'
A political consultant or PR specialist who frames events and statements to present their candidate or organization in the best possible light.
A legislative proposal substantial enough to warrant a presidential veto (as opposed to the trivial nonsense Congress passes daily).
A journalist tasked with controlling candidates who won't follow rules, resulting in moderators being blamed for candidates' rudeness by that candidate's supporters.
To ceremonially seat someone on a throne with all the pomp, circumstance, and legal legitimacy that comes with claiming sovereign power. It's coronation's formal cousin—you don't just sit down, you're installed with witnesses and pageantry.
When someone in power dramatically quits, usually a monarch deciding they'd rather do literally anything else. The ultimate power move of refusing to power.
The parliamentary equivalent of saying "okay, we've heard enough" — a motion to end debate and force a vote, requiring a supermajority in the U.S. Senate. It's democracy's way of telling long-winded senators that everyone else has places to be. Think of it as the legislative mute button for filibusters.
An unrelated provision attached to a bill like a barnacle on a ship's hull, often sneaking through policy that couldn't survive on its own merits. Politicians use riders to smuggle controversial items through on popular legislation.
The practice of trading votes on different bills, where legislators support each other's pet projects in a you-scratch-my-back arrangement. It's political horse-trading without the horses or any pretense of principle.
The presidential power to kill legislation by simply doing nothing when Congress adjourns within ten days of passing it, weaponizing procrastination like a college student discovering the syllabus doesn't require actual attendance. The bill dies without a formal rejection.
A procedural move to kill or postpone consideration of a matter, effectively shelving it indefinitely without having to vote against it directly. It's parliamentary cowardice disguised as procedural efficiency.
A non-binding resolution expressing the legislature's collective opinion on something without creating actual law, making it the political equivalent of a strongly worded Facebook status. It's symbolic gesture elevated to official procedure.
The act of a committee chair refusing to schedule consideration of a bill, letting it die through strategic neglect in a metaphorical filing cubby. It's assassination by bureaucratic inaction.
A political issue so controversial and dangerous that touching it means instant career death, named after the electrified rail that powers subway trains. Social Security reform is the classic example that politicians approach like it's literally radioactive.
A formal agreement between parties, usually nations or organizations, though it sounds way more dramatic than 'contract' or 'treaty.' It's what world leaders sign when they want their agreement to sound historically significant rather than just legally binding. The difference between a business deal and a DEAL that history books might mention.
Aggressive, sometimes ruthless political tactics that prioritize winning over collegiality or fairness. It's chess if chess players could publicly destroy their opponent's reputation between moves.
The officially appointed substitutes who do someone else's job when they're unavailable, basically the backup dancers of government and law enforcement who occasionally get to be the headliner. In legislative contexts, they're elected representatives in certain parliamentary systems; in law enforcement, they're the officers who work under the sheriff. Either way, they're empowered to act with someone else's authority, which is both liberating and terrifying.
Constitutional division of government into distinct branches (executive, legislative, judicial) with different powers and the ability to check each other. Montesquieu's brilliant idea to prevent tyranny, assuming the branches actually want to check each other.
A communication from party whips to legislators indicating the importance of upcoming votes, often using underlining systems to show urgency. The political version of marking an email 'URGENT!!!!'