Definition

Political Action Committee: a legal entity that bundled campaign contributions for candidates, because corporations are people with free speech rights.

Example Usage

The real estate developers' PAC donated $2 million to the zoning committee chairman's campaign.

Origin

Established by campaign finance law reforms post-1971

Fun Fact

Super PACs can raise unlimited funds since Citizens United (2010), making them the real power in campaigns.

Source: Federal Election Commission

Related Terms

Intermediate

appropriation

Government-speak for allocating money for specific purposes, usually through legislation that directs how public funds can be spent. It's the process that turns budget line items into actual spending authority. Without appropriations, agencies have authorization to do things but no actual money — like having a driver's license but no car.

🏛️ Government / Politics
Intermediate

embargo

An official ban that prohibits trade with a specific country or restricts the release of information until a specified time. Journalists encounter embargoes constantly when companies want to control their news cycle, while nations use them as economic weapons that may or may not actually work. Breaking an embargo as a reporter is a great way to never get invited to another press event again.

🏛️ Government / Politics
Advanced

Dark Money

Political donations so secretive they make Swiss bank accounts look like open books. It's money wearing a ski mask that influences elections while nobody can figure out whose wallet it came from.

🏛️ Government / Politics
Intermediate

parliamentary

Relating to a system of government where the executive branch emerges from the legislative body, as opposed to the American system where we elect people to fight each other across branches. In this setup, the Prime Minister can actually lose their job mid-term if Parliament gets cranky, which Americans find either admirably efficient or terrifyingly unstable. Also describes procedures so formal and rule-bound that it takes 20 minutes to ask a simple question.

🏛️ Government / Politics
Intermediate

Mandate

What every politician claims to have after winning an election, even if they won by twelve votes and a recount. It's essentially saying "the people have spoken" while ignoring that half the people said something completely different.

🏛️ Government / Politics
Intermediate

caucuses

Political gatherings where party members meet to nominate candidates, elect delegates, or argue about policy until someone gives up. It's democracy's most confusing participation trophy, especially in Iowa, where the rules seem designed by someone who hates both efficiency and transparency. Essentially, it's a meeting where political insiders pretend regular people have a say.

🏛️ Government / Politics

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