S: Clode's Right Political Dictionary
“Scrutineer” A “scrutineer” is a party representative who has been assigned to a polling booth to observe the conduct of electoral officials, the distribution of ballot papers and the counting of votes after an election. This “scrutineering” by party observers helps to ensure that an election is conducted honestly and totally according to law. Scrutineers also have a role within party preselections, with each prospective party candidate being allowed to appoint a representative to observe the process within their party.
“Select Committee” See “Parliamentary Committees”.
“Senate” / “Senator” A Senator is an Upper House parliamentarian. This term is common in many countries and is sometimes used for both national upper houses and state upper houses. The term originates from the Roman “Senate” – one of the first democratic for a in the history of civilisation.
“Shadow Cabinet” / “Shadow Ministers” Shadow Cabinet is a group of senior parliamentarians from the main opposition party or parties in the Parliament. They act as spokespersons for the opposition on the main policy areas of government. Shadow Ministers are members of the Shadow Cabinet. Shadow ministers "shadow" Ministers, looking for mistakes and watching closely what the relevant government Ministers are doing. Sometimes Shadow portfolios match the responsibilities of the government Ministers exactly, other times they do not.
“Social Democrat” This is a term used by socialists to distinguish between peaceful socialists who have some respect for democracy, versus other undemocratic socialists who are dedicated to the overthrow of capitalism by any means – including by violence, juntas and the overthrow of parliament (as advocated by Marx and Engels in The Communist Manifesto).
“Social Justice” This has become a modern by-word for “socialism”, used by Western socialists who are too cowardly to describe their ideology in frank language. The popularity of the word has increased since the Berlin wall was toppled and since the British Labour Party removed the explicit socialist objective from its platform. "Social justice" is a deliberately vague term, with many meanings ascribed to it by different users. Even some centre-right politicians have borrowed the woolly expression in moments of intellectual laziness. The common left-wing use of the word invariably involves government taking money from people or heavily regulating their lives, in order to privilege another group. Socialists are convinced that society is comprised of rigid classes, therefore they belief that it is legitimate to penalise those who have worked hard, to subsidise others – including subsidising able bodied people who choose to be lazy.
“Snap Election” This is a surprise election, called earlier than the normal date on which an election is due. Normally the maximum parliamentary term is between 3 to 5 years. If, during this period the government loses its majority, it is often wise to call a snap election to allow the voters to resolve which party should govern. It is also common to have a snap election where governing coalition falls apart, or where a government with a small majority in parliament is going through a popular period and wishes to increase its majority. Snap elections can carry large risks, even in good political circumstances, since voters are more likely to become complacent and cast “protest vote” over minor issues during a snap election. However in some electoral systems, there is a “fixed” term, with no allowance for an early election – so there can be no “snap elections”.
“Soft Votes/ Voters” See “Swingers”.
“Soft Money” See “Hard money”
“Sound bite” A “sound bite” is a brief, very quotable remark made by a candidate for public office. Such remarks are intended to be repeated on radio and television news programs. Candidates maximise their chances of being quoted by the media by using combinations of brevity; humour; emotion; visually powerful body language; distinct backdrops or locations; rhetorical devices (like alliteration); or rebuttal points which can be juxtaposed against the statements of their opponents. The one common device in any sound bite is the shortness of the statement, or shortness in the individual sentences which comprise the statement. Such brevity is tailored to the television news, which tends to mainly broadcast brief quotations.
“Speaker” This is the Chairman who presides over debates in parliament. The title of Speaker dates back to 1377 in Britain when Sir Thomas Hungerford was elected by the House of Commons. After the Restoration of the King, Speakers were usually politically associated with the government party. These party ties were first loosened by Arthur Onslow (Speaker 1728-61), to ensure that the administration of debate was more impartial. From the mid-nineteenth century onwards, the British Speaker broke with his party altogether once elected to the chair, however in other countries the Speaker has continued to have a party affiliation.
“Spin” / “Spin doctor” A “spin doctor” is a media adviser or political consultant employed by a campaign or politician to ensure that the candidate receives the best possible publicity in any given situation. For example, after a debate between opposing candidates, each candidate’s “spin doctors” will seek out journalists so they can point out their candidate’s strengths in the debate and try to convince the press, and by extension the public, that their candidate “won” the debate. When these media advisers practice their craft, they are said to be “spinning” or putting “spin” on a situation or event.
“Standing Committee” See “Parliamentary Committees”.
“Standing orders” These are the rules which guide the conduct of a meeting (parties and parliaments both have standing orders). These rules establish time limits for speakers, rights of members to ask questions, and other procedural details. Standing orders often have a clause in them, allowing the standing orders to be suspended if a majority of the room votes to do this, thereby allowing a meeting to discuss some issues informally.
“Swinger” / “Swinging Voters” “ A "swinger” (or “marginal voter”) is a constituent who is uncertain about which party they will vote for in the next election. Some voters are swingers at almost every election, particularly those who are uninterested by politics. The aim of a party in an election campaign is to remind its core loyal voters to go and vote, discouraging supporters of the opposing parties from going to vote, while also convincing as many swinging voters as possible to support the party.