| 释义 |
political, a. (n.)|pəʊˈlɪtɪkəl, pə-|
[f. L. polītic-us, a. Gr. πολιτικ-ός (see politic a. and n.) + -al1.]
A. adj.
1. a. Of, belonging, or pertaining to the state or body of citizens, its government and policy, esp. in civil and secular affairs; public, civil; of or pertaining to the science or art of politics.
1551T. Wilson Logike (1580) 15 b, The polliticall lawe doeth cause an outward discipline to bee obserued, euen of the wicked. 1637R. Humfrey tr. St. Ambrose ii. Pref., We must discerne betweene..political order..and..the vices incident thereunto. 1646S. Bolton Arraignm. Err. 317 In the execution of them, the King performs his part in a politicall way, the officers of the Church in an ecclesiasticall way. 1788Priestley Lect. Hist. v. xxxix. 282 The share that he may have in directing the affairs of the society may be called his political liberty. 1825J. S. Mill in Westm. Rev. Apr. 291 The subjects on which it is the interest of rulers that the people should be misled; the political religion of the country, its political institutions, [etc.]. 1846― in Edin. Rev. LXXXIV. 344 They [sc. the Greeks] were..the originators of political freedom. 1869Lecky Europ. Mor. I. ii. 310 The distinct nationalities that composed the empire [Rome]..had lost all care for political freedom. 1878Gladstone Prim. Homer vii. 100 What they [the Achaians] seem to have brought with them was the true political spirit; the faculty of nation-making. 1882G. A. Sala Amer. Revisited i. xi. 161 For some mysterious reason..the Consumers' Ice Company figured as a political organisation in this astounding Parade. 1907L. H. Morgan Anc. Society ii. xiii. 335 City wards and country townships..would have become the basis of the new political system. 1934T. S. Eliot Rock i. 15 Political religion is like invalid port: you calls it a medicine but it's soon just a 'abit. a1942B. Malinowski Scientific Theory of Culture (1944) v. 50 The Chinese civilization differs from ours..in the economic and political organization of the country. 1949M. Mead in M. Fortes Social Structure 20 We have blocked out conceptually a large number of such areas as: the relationship between the representations of family structure and political structure in the psychology of the individual. 1957P. Worsley Trumpet shall Sound 227 They occur..among people living in..societies..which lack centralized political institutions. 1962P. Diesing Reason in Society v. 170 The political structure of a group is the organization of forces which determines how its decisions are made. 1976Times 21 May 2/5 The United Unionist M.P.s who provide most of Northern Ireland's political representation at Westminster.
b. Of persons: Engaged in civil administration; civil, as distinct from military; spec. in India, having, as a government official, the function of advising the ruler of a Native State on political matters, as political agent, political resident, etc. (now Hist.).
1849E. B. Eastwick Dry Leaves 212 The junior political officers who served under the Envoy, or the Political Agent in Upper Sindh. 1861W. H. Russell in Times 29 July, The civilian Generals, or ‘political’ chiefs, are obnoxious to the regulars. 1880Gen. Adye in 19th Cent. Apr. 699 The first class comprises political residents, commissioners of provinces, magistrates, officers of police and public works. 1903Whitaker's Almanack 495/2 States of India..governed by their native Princes, Ministers, or Councils, with the help and under the advice of a political officer of the Supreme Government.
2. Having an organized government or polity. † Said also of animals such as bees and ants (obs.).
1657S. Purchas (title) Theatre of Politicall Flying-Insects. 1658Rowland Moufet's Theat. Ins. 921 The Philosopher doth rightly reckon them in the number of the Civil or Political sort of Insects. 1690Locke Govt. ii. vii. §89 There only is a Political or Civil Society. 1875Maine Hist. Inst. xii. 358 Every independent political community, that is,..every independent community neither in a state of nature..nor in a state of anarchy.
3. Relating to, concerned or dealing with politics or the science of government.
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 65 Beside his politicall wisdome; his knowledge in Philosophie was very large. 1758Johnson Idler No. 5 ⁋3 Men of a more political under⁓standing are persuaded that we shall now see..the ambassadors of France supplicating for pity. 1830Declar. 25 Jan. in C. M. Wakefield Life T. Attwood x. (1885) 134 We propose to form in Birmingham a General Political Union of the Industrious Classes, for the Protection of Public Rights. 1885Spectator 16 May, The ladder which leads to the highest positions in political life.
4. Belonging to or taking a side in politics or in connexion with the party system of government; in a bad sense, partisan, factious. Also (freq. in derogatory use), serving the ends of (party) politics; having regard or consideration for the interests of politics rather than questions of principle.
1749[see machine n. 4 fig.] 1769Junius Lett. iii. (1772) 27 It has all been owing to the malice of political writers, who will not suffer the best and brightest of characters..to take a single right step for the honour or interest of the nation. 1846Wright Ess. Mid. Ages II. xix. 259 The oldest English political song preserved relates to the battle of Lewes in 1264. a1859Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxv. V. 241 He tried to make what is, in the jargon of our time, called political capital out of the desolation of his house and the blood of his first born. 1861J. S. Mill Repr. Govt. i. 4 Political machinery does not act of itself. 1890Cent. Dict. s.v. Assessment, Political assessments, in the United States, contributions of money levied by political committees upon..office-holders..in order to defray the expenses of a political canvass. 1900Daily News 5 Nov. 7/1 Another feature of an American Presidential campaign is the lavish display of political ‘buttons’. 1909C. F. G. Masterman Condition of England iii. 83 They appear as the mainstay of the political machine in suburban districts. 1912Out West (Los Angeles) June 401 Are you interested..in the way people are defrauded, and bunkoed, and swindled, and played with by the political bosses? 1934L. Mumford in W. Frank et al. Amer. & Alfred Stieglitz i. ii. 34 The political boss and his underlings. 1974G. Woodbridge in H. van Thal Prime Ministers I. 349 He [sc. Lord Grey] concluded with a highly political and very clever speech, suggesting that all that was at stake was the acceptance of the principle that there should be some reform, leaving the exact details..to be settled in the committee stage. 1977Times 27 Jan. 5/1 If the Government chose the path of ill-considered and largely political legislation aimed at achieving a union takeover of private industry, it would have dealt a damaging blow. 1978Times 3 Jan. 1/3 The union's vice-president..told a rally of 1000 striking firemen that the employers were playing ‘a political game’.
†5. = politic A. 2. Obs.
1614B. Jonson Barth. Fair iii. i, I cannot beget a project with all my political brain yet. 1654tr. Martini's Conq. China 106 And sometimes suggested dangerous, but political Counsels to the Tartars. 1759Sterne Tr. Shandy II. x, 'Twas natural and very political too in him, to have taken a ride to Shandy-Hall. 1778W. H. Marshall Minutes Agric., Digest 19 From two to three hundred acres..is the most political Farm. a1817in Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. i. 334 Whether it would be political to interfere, or whether..it would be expedient, must continue a doubt with us.
6. Phrases. political animal [tr. Gr. πολιτικὸν ζῷον (Aristotle Politics i. ii. §9) an animal intended to live in a city, a social animal] man, as acting in concert with others; a person who is interested in, or who participates in, politics; political anthropology, the study of the origins, forms, and exercise of community authority as it has evolved in aboriginal or isolated societies; † political arithmetic, statistics of the population, trade, revenue, expenditure, etc. of a state; political asylum, the condition of being, or permission to remain in a country as, a political refugee; political commissar, in China, a representative appointed to a military unit to be responsible for political education and organization; political day = civil day (day 6); political economy, political economist: see economy 3, economist 4; political football, a subject of contentious political debate; political geography, that part of geography which deals with the boundaries, divisions, and possessions of states; political hostess, a hostess at a party or gathering attended by politicians; political morality, public ethics; political novel, a fictitious political narrative, a novel about imaginary politicians; political philosophy, that department of philosophy which treats of politics or public ethics; hence political philosopher; political police, a police force concerned with offences against the state; political prisoner, a person imprisoned for a political offence; political refugee, a refugee from an oppressive government; political science, the study of the factors involved in politics (see politic n. 3) or the scientific analysis of political activity and behaviour; hence political scientist; political sociology (see quot. 1968); hence political sociologist; political theory, theory that is concerned with philosophical ideas of political power and with the history, forms, and activity of the state; hence political theorist; political trial, a trial of a defendant charged with a political offence, or a trial conducted for political reasons; political verse, in Byzantine and mod. Gr. literature (Gr. πολιτικός popular), verse composed by accent, not quantity, with an accent on the last syllable but one, esp. an iambic verse of this kind of fifteen syllables; political warfare, propaganda against another state, calculated to weaken it.
1776W. Ellis tr. Aristotle's Treat. Govt. i. ii. 6 Hence it is evident, that a city is a natural production, and that man is naturally a *political animal. 1892I. Zangwill Childr. Ghetto II. 113 The East End Jew is only slowly becoming a political animal. 1960Victorian Studies June 348 Characters who necessarily act and feel as isolated individuals as well as political animals. 1968L. Durrell Tunc ii. 89 If we get in again it will be to try and prove..that the key to the political animal is magnanimity. 1975Times 17 July 19/1 Lady Young is..very much a political animal.
1970A. M. S. Smith tr. Balandier's Polit. Anthrop. p. vii, This book is also intended to show how *political anthropology is contributing to a clearer definition and a better knowledge of the political field. 1975in Beattie & Lienhardt Stud. in Soc. Anthrop. xiv. 336 What Evans-Pritchard treated as no more than one sub-system among others..now seems..to have become a specialization on its own, a ‘political anthropology’.
1682Petty Tracts rel. Ireland (1769) 90 (title) Essay in *Political Arithmetick, concerning the Growth of the City of London. 1710J. Harris Lex. Techn. II, Political Arithmetick, is the Application of Arithmetical Calculations to the Extent and Value of Lands, Number of People, Publick Revenues, Taxes, Commerce, Manufactures, or whatever relates to the Power, Strength, Riches, &c. of any Nation or Common-wealth. 1735–7Berkeley Querist §530 Whether a little reflection and a little political arithmetic may not shew us our mistake?
1954Times 14 Dec. 9/3 A steady consensus of judicial interpretation sustains the tradition of *political asylum. 1962Weekly Law Reports III. 1016 Per Viscount Radcliffe. In my opinion the idea that lies behind the phrase ‘offence of a political character’ is..the analogy of..‘political refugee’, ‘political asylum’ or ‘political prisoner’. It does indicate..that the requesting State is after him for reasons other than the enforcement of criminal law. 1973Ann. Reg. 1972 i. iii. 25 Two officers of the Royal Moroccan Air Force..arrived in Gibraltar and sought political asylum.
1937E. Snow Red Star over China viii. vi. 299 The discussion continued for over an hour. Occasionally the commander or *political commissar interrupted to summarize what had been said. 1956F. F. Liu Milit. Hist. Mod. China ii. 19 The Kuomintang..adopted a plan of gathering armed forces..and then inserting trained political commissars at the various levels of the newly absorbed groups. 1965J. Ch'ên Mao & Chinese Revolution (1967) i. viii. 175 At Iyang there was the 10th Red Army under Fang Chih-min with Shao Shih-p'ing as the political commissar. 1978H. McLeave Borderline Case (1979) xiii. 134 Yao was a political commissar and was running a military setup.
1706Phillips s.v. Day, The Parts of a *Political or Civil Day.
[1615Antoine de Montchrestien (title) Traicte de l'Œconomie Politique.] 1740Ld. Westmoreland in Johnson Debates (1787) I. 109 As in private life, so in *political œconomy, the demands of necessity are easily supplied. 1767–[see economy 3].
1971Financial Mail (Johannesburg) 26 Feb. 673/3 The whole question of new negotiations seems to have become a *political football and little more. 1975Australasian Express 27 Mar. 7/1 In a strong attack, Mr Perkins claimed Aborigines were a ‘political football’ in Australia. 1977New Scientist 17 Mar. 641/2 Recombinant DNA research is rapidly assuming the shape of a political football.
1883E. W. Hamilton Diary 18 Mar. (1972) II. 411 Lady Hayter has played the part of *political hostess this year excellently well. 1944C. Dilke in Wine & Food Spring 24 The house of a well-known political hostess. 1977J. Aiken Last Movement v. 92 Her..husband had suddenly ditched her in favour of a fat blonde political hostess.
1827J. S. Mill in Arch. f. Sozialwissensch. (1929) 450 There always ought to be..a certain difference of opinion in every ministry. Let any one consider what the effect would be if the contrary maxim were received as a rule of *political morality. 1861― Repr. Govt. x. 193 Undoubtedly neither this nor any other maxim of political morality is absolutely inviolable.
1866Times 26 June 6/3 Felix Holt, the Radical, is not..a *political novel, though it necessarily touches on politics. 1976Hiroshima Stud. Eng. Lang. & Lit. XXI. 69 It [sc. Nostromo] is regarded as a ‘political novel’, a ‘historical novel’ or a ‘philosophical novel’.
1833Lytton England & English II. 338 It is necessary..to distinguish between Mr. Bentham's practical conclusions..and his systematic views as a *political philosopher. 1924V. L. O. Chittick T. C. Haliburton xiii. 326 It was unquestionably not Sam Slick the political philosopher..that gave to his ‘Sayings and Doings’ the surprising vogue they formerly enjoyed. 1961Kaplan & Katzenbach Pol. Foundation of Internat. Law i. iii. 64 Political philosophers will recognize its origins in the rejected doctrines of Hobbes.
1785W. Paley (title) The principles of moral and *political philosophy. 1825J. S. Mill in Westm. Rev. Apr. 286 The general question, to what extent restraints upon the freedom of the press can be considered as warranted by sound principles of political philosophy. 1958A. R. Radcliffe-Brown Method in Social Anthropology ii. i. 139 There is an abundant literature on the subjects of social philosophy, political philosophy,..and the philosophy of art. 1976Listener 3 June 705/1 There has been a real revival in political philosophy..particularly..in the U.S.A.
1910R. Anderson Lighter Side of my Official Life xv. 246 Before coming to England as Ambassador, Count Schouvaloff was head of the *Political Police at St. Petersburg. 1953Encounter Oct. 67/1 Never during the Stalin era was the political police charged with illegal extortion of evidence. 1974J. White tr. Poulantzas's Fascism & Dictatorship vii. v. 341 None of this reorganization of the State apparatus can be understood without taking into account the growing and dominant role of the political police.
1860Dickens in All Yr. Round 13 Oct. 14/2 All the town knew about the Englishman and his *political prisoner. 1927B. Russell Outl. Philos. iii. 44 Perhaps in time the State will perform these experiments with the children of political prisoners. 1972Guardian 8 May 1/2 The loyalists have already sent a letter to Mr Whitelaw demanding political prisoner status.
1941Koestler Scum of Earth 137 Paragraph 19 of the Armistice Treaty, providing for the extradition of *political refugees. 1974N. Freeling Dressing of Diamond 48 Marrying a political refugee..hadn't done him any good.
1779Hume Dial. Nat. Relig. i. 16 This is their practice in all natural, mathematical, moral, and *political science. 1794A. Ferguson Princ. Moral & Polit. Sci. II. ii. vi. 411 Salus populi, suprema lex esto, is the fundamental principle of political science. 1836J. S. Mill Ess. Pol. Econ. (1844) v. 146 This we can seldom do in ethical, and scarcely ever in political science. We cannot try forces of government and systems of national policy on a diminutive scale in our laboratories. 1898G. B. Shaw Let. 18 Oct. (1972) II. 66 You and I have been confronted often enough with the follies of current political science. 1958A. R. Radcliffe-Brown Method in Social Anthropology i. iv. 102 Political systems, economic systems, and systems of law are studied in social anthropology and also in economics, political science and jurisprudence. 1974A. Barbrook Patterns Polit. Behav. i. 3 We have been left with a considerable range of behavioural theory, some of which has been completely accepted into the methodology of political science.
1902Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. Jan. 564 There is not a political evolution through steps a, b, c, d, etc., which the *political scientist can account for. 1974Listener 24 Oct. 578/1 Professor Richard Rose..is the most productive political scientist in Britain.
1972Dowse & Hughes Political Sociol. i. 7 As a matter of fact *political sociologists do tend to concentrate on seeing in what ways society affects the state.
1957Current Sociol. VI. 79 *Political sociology is one of these recent additions. The label is perhaps more novel than the field. 1968Encycl. Soc. Sci. XII. 298/2 Broadly conceived, political sociology is concerned with the social basis of power in all institutional sectors of society. In this tradition, political sociology deals with patterns of social stratification and their consequences in organized politics... By contrast, in narrower terms, political sociology focuses on the organizational analysis of political groups and..leadership. 1977W. J. Goode Princ. Sociol. xiii. 399/2 Political sociology and political science as special fields have overlapped comfortably for several decades.
1951D. Easton in Gould & Thursby Contemp. Polit. Thought (1969) xvii. 309 Speculations of the best *political theorists have always been founded on acute observations of the contemporary political scene and a knowledge of human history.
1896J. N. Figgis Divine Right of Kings x. 256 It is a far cry from the conception expressed in the Holy Roman Empire, that theology is the source of *political theory. 1974H. M. Drucker Pol. Uses of Ideology iv. 37 When a political theory points out that one kind of political system has such an advantage over another, we prefer the former.
1973Listener 14 June 793/1 Every *political trial has a long hidden history of what went on behind the scenes. 1974J. Banning How I fooled World xi. 52 There were the political trials in Czechoslovakia.
1780Harris Philol. Inq. ii. ii. Wks. (1841) 410 There are *political verses of the same barbarous character by Constantinus Manasses, John Tzetzes, and others of that period. 1788Gibbon Decl. & F. liii. (1828) VII. 132 [Byzantine poets] confound all measure of feet and syllables in the impotent strains which have received the name of political or city verses.
1950Chambers's Encycl. XI. 254/2 In 1941..Eden,..Bracken, the minister of information, and Dalton, who supervised propaganda to the enemy, constituted a *Political Warfare Executive. 1977E. Ambler Send no more Roses iv. 70 The only higher-ups who took any real interest in our findings were the political warfare people.
7. In Comb., prefixed to an adj. to denote:
a. ‘politically, as applied to politics’, as political-ethical, political-moral, political-strategic;
b. ‘political and{ddd}’, as political-bureaucratic, political-cultural, political-economic, political-juridical, political-military, political-religious, political-social.
1970C. Furtado in I. L. Horowitz Masses in Lat. Amer. ii. 31 The political-bureaucratic structure exterted [sic] a strong influence within the society.
1959C. W. Mills in I. L. Horowitz New Sociology (1964) 85 [The] joint political-cultural struggle must be waged in intellectual and moral ways.
1937Science & Society I. 153 There are abundant instances of the relation between ‘standard’ speech and the political-economic character of the ruling class. 1970J. Cotler in I. L. Horowitz Masses in Lat. Amer. xii. 437 Due to the political-economic limitations in Mancha India, social opportunities for the Cholo are somewhat limited.
1936L. Wirth in K. Mannheim Ideology & Utopia p. xviii, Political-ethical norms not only cannot be derived from the direct contemplation of the facts, but themselves exert a moulding influence upon the very modes of perceiving the facts. 1971R. apRoberts Trollope iv. 78 The political-ethical dilemmas of that novel [sc. Ralph the Heir].
1919J. T. Garvin Econ. Foundations of Peace x. 231 The means..will not be provided by the political-juridical part of the coming Constitution of the League. 1965H. Kahn On Escalation vi. 125 Its possible worth in fulfilling European political-military objectives. 1970H. Trevelyan Middle East in Revolution p. x, The withdrawal from Aden was a political-military operation conducted jointly by Headquarters, Middle East and the High Commission.
1953S. Spender Creative Element 9 In the 1930's..I wrote of a ‘political-moral’ theme in modern literature. 1970R. Stavenhagen in I. L. Horowitz Masses in Lat. Amer. vii. 259 Individual economic pre-eminence..arises, individually, through positions held in the political-religious structure.
1965English Studies XLVI. 395 Melville is working in cosmic-religious, rather than political-social, terms. 1965H. Kahn On Escalation vi. 122 It is not an improbable international political-strategic order for the future.
B. n. (elliptical use of the adj.)
1. A political person; in various senses:
a. = Political agent, officer, resident: see above, 1 b.
1848Sir H. B. Edwardes in Lady Edwardes Mem. (1888) I. 152 Another of your Lordship's ‘young politicals’ joined me in the middle of all this fighting, Edward Lake. 1856J. W. Cole Mem. Brit. Gen. Penin. War I. ii. 71 He was superseded..by a ‘political’, who..involved him in a carte and tierce correspondence with the Madras officials. 1898Geo. Smith 12 Indian Statesm. ii. 27 A man of action, whether as a soldier, a ‘political’ in the Anglo-Indian sense, or an administrator. 1926[see fiddly a.]. 1939Times 1 Aug. 13/3 Sir John Maffey..was an Indian political. 1958L. Durrell Mountolive iv. 91 Pursewarden as political feels that the Embassy has also in a way inherited Maskelyne's department. 1979C. Allen Tales from Dark Continent viii. 110 Most administrators—other than the Sudan politicals—regarded themselves as badly paid.
b. A politician; a political writer. rare—1.
1857Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. II. App. 97 If there is a heaven for politicals, you and I, Sir, will ask for a corner of the Tory bench.
c. = political prisoner: see above, 6.
1888Century Mag. XXXV. 402 Politicals suffering from nervous affections,..are often put in the same ward with insane criminals. 1895Westm. Gaz. 16 Mar. 2/3 The flogging of politicals, and their degradation to the general treatment of thieves and murderers. 1938New Statesman 19 Feb. 273/2 There are only 15 ‘politicals’ still in gaol in the United Provinces and only 26 in Bihar. 1968Guardian 22 Nov. 9/4 We started off being D Group prisoners, the lowest grade which only applies to politicals.
†2. pl. Political matters, politics. Obs.
1621Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 521 Alway in Naturalls: sometime in Politicalls. a1734North Lives (1826) III. 308 He held a due respect to superiors, especially in politicals.
Hence poˈliticalism, political activity or partisanship; poˈliticalize v. (a) trans. to make or render political; (b) intr. to practise or discourse on politics; poˌliticaliˈzation, the action of making political.
1846Worcester, Politicalism..(Ch. Ob.). 1869Contemp. Rev. X. 11 If you continue to allow him to politicalize in your paper. 190219th Cent. & after Nov. 733 In America the politicalisation can do more harm than elsewhere. 1935Sun (Baltimore) 19 Dec. 12/1 The current strong tendency toward politicalization of the intellectuals. 1947Partisan Rev. XIV. 485 The ever-growing politicalization of intellectual life makes more and more difficult a disinterested theoretical approach. 1959Times Lit. Suppl. 5 June 330/4 This is what Professor Marcuse calls the ‘externalization’ or the ‘politicalization’ of ethics. 1974Nature 1 Mar. 1/1 A move toward what NIH scientists refer to as ‘politicalisation of research’.
Add:[A.] [6.] political correctness orig. U.S., advocacy of or conformity to politically correct views; politically correct language or behaviour (see *politically adv. 3 b; cf. also *correctness n. 2).
[1948Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. XLII. 997 In general, Hull, although modest and tolerant of other views, is quite certain of the moral, legal, and political correctness of his own policies.] 1979Washington Post 16 Sept. (Book World) 13/3 No matter what criticisms are hurled at this feminist fiction, no doubt the author will be cushioned by her *political correctness. 1986Los Angeles Times 8 Aug. vi. 22/1 The key to this was found not in her message songs—like many of her ilk, she tends toward smug political correctness. 1991Times 4 July 19/1 Despising the republic as they do, these champions of ‘political correctness’ are presumably scowling today.
political incorrectness orig U.S., language, behaviour, etc., which is not politically correct; failure or reluctance to conform to politically correct views (see *politically adv. 3 b).
1989N.Y. Times 16 July vii. 1/1 By 1969, what some liberal authors saw as the new *political incorrectness of the Apollo program left them feeling guilty or ambivalent toward it. 1990T. Pynchon Vineland 83 Just for its political incorrectness alone, Frenesi had at first reacted to Sasha's theory with anger. 1994Loaded Sept. 40/1 Local councils have monitored his act to judge whether it contains material which might be offensive under their Equal Opportunities policies... Manning, the living embodiment of political incorrectness, remains somewhat bemused by all the fuss.
▸ political agenda n. a (notional) list of policies to be pursued or political issues to be addressed; a political programme or plan of action, esp. of a particular individual or group; (hence) a set of underlying political motives, principles, or ideals.
[1930Times 27 May 15/2 [He] has obtained an interim injunction against the Karachi Municipality restraining it from holding a special general meeting this evening to discuss a purely political agenda. ]1934tr. V. I. Lenin Sel. Wks. III. i. Postscript iii. 127 They are the first to ‘place the bayonet on the agenda’ [i.e. resort to violence] as Russian autocracy has been doing systematically..since January 9. And since such a situation has arisen, since the bayonet has really taken first place on the *political agenda..the constitutional illusions and school exercises in parliamentarism are becoming only a screen. 1965Amer. Econ. Rev. 55 511 Poverty has been placed on the political agenda, oddly enough in spite of the fact that poor people are poor voters. 1994Church Times 18 Nov. 19/2 When resources are so stretched and medical possibilities..so infinite, it's difficult not to suspect a political agenda behind a programme which is, at the very least, excellent PR for the hospital. 2001CovertAction Q. Winter 16/1 Environmental activists, anti-globalization activists, and activists who use direct action to further their political agendas are particularly vulnerable to prosecution as ‘domestic terrorists’. |