Citizens United

Definition

A 2010 Supreme Court decision that basically ruled 'corporations are people and money is speech'—fundamentally transforming American politics into an open auction.

Example Usage

Since Citizens United, campaign finance has become exclusively about which billionaire class funds which politician.

Origin

Named after the conservative nonprofit that brought the case challenging campaign finance restrictions.

Fun Fact

Citizens United overturned a century of campaign finance law in five pages, proving the Supreme Court can make society-changing decisions with shocking brevity.

Source: Supreme Court terminology

Related Terms

Beginner

Policy Wonk

A person obsessed with policy details, numbers, and substantive governance—the only type of person actually interested in reading the omnibus bill.

🏛️ Government / Politics

Advanced

Sister Souljah moment

When a politician publicly criticizes their own party's extreme wing to demonstrate independence and court moderate voters. Strategic betrayal rebranded as principled leadership.

🏛️ Government / Politics

Beginner

Constituent

A fancy word for "voter" that politicians use when they want to sound like they actually remember you exist between elections. You're a constituent when they need your vote and a statistic the rest of the time.

🏛️ Government / Politics

Beginner

sitting duck

An incumbent politician vulnerable to defeat due to scandal, unpopular positions, or demographic shifts. Electoral targets that practically paint themselves.

🏛️ Government / Politics

Intermediate

horse trading

Legislative negotiation involving quid-pro-quo exchanges and dealmaking, often for mutually beneficial but unrelated provisions. Democracy's marketplace, minus the health inspections.

🏛️ Government / Politics

Beginner

voting

The democratic process of making choices by casting ballots, or the corporate ritual of pretending everyone has a say before management does what it wanted anyway. It's the formalized method of expressing preferences that somehow manages to be both empowering and frustrating. The system that proves collective decision-making is just organized disagreement.

🏛️ Government / Politics

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