A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times of emergency.
Political correctness is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society. In public discourse and the media, the term is generally used as a pejorative with an implication that these policies are excessive or unwarranted. Since the late 1980s, the term has been used to describe a preference for inclusive language and avoidance of language or behavior that can be seen as excluding, marginalizing, or insulting to groups of people disadvantaged or discriminated against, particularly groups defined by ethnicity, sex, gender, or sexual orientation.
The Federalist Party was the first political party in the United States. Under Alexander Hamilton, it dominated the national government from 1789 to 1801. Defeated by the Jeffersonian Republicans in 1800, it became a minority party while keeping its stronghold in New England and made a brief resurgence by opposing the War of 1812. It then collapsed with its last presidential candidate in 1816. Remnants lasted in a few places for a few years. The party appealed to businesses and to conservatives who favored banks, national over state government, manufacturing, an army and navy, and in world affairs preferred Great Britain and opposed the French Revolution. The party favored centralization, federalism, modernization and protectionism.
A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology or the will of their donors or constituents. Whips are the party's "enforcers". They try to ensure that their fellow political party legislators attend voting sessions and vote according to their party's official policy. Members who vote against party policy may "lose the whip", being effectively expelled from the party.
In parliamentary systems, politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their affiliation to a second party after being elected as a member of a first party, or voting against the approved party lines.
A smear campaign, also referred to as a smear tactic or simply a smear, is an effort to damage or call into question someone's reputation, by propounding negative propaganda. It makes use of discrediting tactics.
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn is a British politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North since 1983. Formerly a Labour MP, he now sits as an independent.
James Donnelly Touhig, Baron TouhigKSS, known as Don Touhig, is a British politician and life peer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Islwyn from 1995 to 2010. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, he served in government as an Assistant Whip from 1999 to 2001 and a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State from 2001 to 2006.
The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires.
The term enemy of the people or enemy of the nation, is a designation for the political or class opponents of the subgroup in power within a larger group. The term implies that by opposing the ruling subgroup, the "enemies" in question are acting against the larger group, for example against society as a whole. It is similar to the notion of "enemy of the state". The term originated in Roman times as Latin: hostis publicus, typically translated into English as the "public enemy". The term in its "enemy of the people" form has been used for centuries in literature.
John Randolph Thune is an American politician and businessman serving as the senior United States senator from South Dakota, a seat to which he was first elected in 2004. A member of the Republican Party, he serves as Senate minority whip.
Attack Poodles and Other Media Mutants: The Looting of the News in a Time of Terror (2004) is a book by American media critic James Wolcott.
In parliamentary practice, pairing is an informal arrangement between the government and opposition parties whereby a member of a legislative body agrees or is designated by the party whip to be absent from the chamber or to abstain from voting when a member of the other party needs to be absent from the chamber due to other commitments, illness, travel problems, etc.
Desmond Louis Donnelly was a British politician, author and journalist who was a member of four political parties during the course of his career, and moved between parties on five occasions.
The term swiftboating is a pejorative American neologism used to describe an unfair or untrue political attack. The term is derived from the name of the organization "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" because of their widely publicized—and later discredited—campaign against 2004 U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry.
Francis Ewan Urquhart is a fictional character created by British politician and author Michael Dobbs. Urquhart is the main character in Dobbs's House of Cards trilogy of novels and television series: House of Cards (1990), To Play the King (1993) and The Final Cut (1995). He was portrayed in the BBC TV adaptations by Ian Richardson, who won a BAFTA award for his performance.
"Yo, Blair, what are you doing?" was an informal greeting reportedly made by United States President George W. Bush to British Prime Minister Tony Blair during the summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations (G8) in St Petersburg, Russia, on 17 July 2006. The quote gained wide popularity across the media.
In politics, “poodle” is an insult used to describe a politician who obediently or passively follows the lead of others. It is considered to be equivalent to lackey. Usage of the term is thought to relate to the passive and obedient nature of the dog breed. Colette Avital unsuccessfully tried to have the term’s use banned from the Knesset in June 2001.
Julian Richard Smith is a British politician who served as Government Chief Whip from 2017 to 2019 and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2019 to 2020. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Skipton and Ripon since 2010.
Woke is an English adjective meaning 'alert to racial prejudice and discrimination' that originated in African-American Vernacular English (AAVE). Beginning in the 2010s, it came to encompass a broader awareness of social inequalities such as sexism, and has also been used as shorthand for left-wing ideas involving identity politics and social justice, such as the notion of white privilege and slavery reparations for African Americans.
