Majority Leader

Definition

The most powerful member of the majority party in a chamber, essentially the head traffic cop who decides what gets voted on and when. Real power broker.

Example Usage

The Majority Leader scheduled the infrastructure bill for a vote on Thursday.

Origin

From Senate practice dating to early 20th century

Fun Fact

The Majority Leader position didn't exist in the Senate until 1911; before that there was no formal leadership role

Source: Congressional leadership structure

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whips

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electorate

The collective mass of theoretically informed citizens entitled to vote, whose decisions shape democracy and occasionally make political scientists weep into their methodology textbooks. In practice, it's the group that politicians pander to every few years while pretending to care about their actual concerns. Studying the electorate involves trying to predict the unpredictable behavior of millions of people who get their news from their uncle's Facebook posts.

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staffer

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Overton window

The range of policies and ideas considered politically acceptable to mainstream voters at a given time. Shifting the window means making previously radical ideas seem reasonable, or vice versa.

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