parapolitics means political practices and arrangements that are unacknowledged and that intend to misinform or obfuscate a hidden agenda. It carries an Arena rating of 1356, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, parapolitics ranks #2,350 of 14,448 for Most Incisive Words, #2,481 of 14,322 for Scariest Words, #2,517 of 14,440 for Most Satisfying to Say, #2,580 of 14,456 for The Improbable.
Why “parapolitics” is a great word
Parapolitics is the covert political arrangements and practices that exist alongside or beneath the official sphere, designed to conceal a hidden agenda, particularly the collusion between state actors and paramilitary forces. From the English prefix para- (meaning "beside, beyond, or subsidiary to") + politics. Unlike "metapolitics," which concerns the philosophical theories underlying political action, or "realpolitik," which is an openly pragmatic calculus of power, parapolitics denotes the deliberately obscured machinery of influence. It is the unminuted meeting in a secure safehouse, the laundered funds funneled to a death squad, and the official denial issued over the ruins of a village square—the quiet evidence that the state has a second, darker heart.
Etymology
From para- + politics.
noun
- Political practices and arrangements that are unacknowledged and that intend to misinform or obfuscate a hidden agenda.
- Collusion or collaboration between politicians and paramilitary groups (referring to the 2006 Colombian parapolitics scandal).“And parapolitics risks weakening Mr [Álvaro] Uribe's grip on Congress. A tax reform that would have raised government revenues has been watered down.”
Words closest in meaning
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