Third rail (politics)

This third rail, used to power trains, would likely result in the death by electrocution of anyone who comes into direct contact with it.

The third rail of a nation's politics is a metaphor for any issue so controversial that it is "charged" and "untouchable" to the extent that any politician or public official who dares to broach the subject will invariably suffer politically. The metaphor comes from the high-voltage third rail in some electric railway systems.

Touching a third rail can result in electrocution, so usage of the metaphor in political situations relates to the risk of "political suicide" that a person would face by raising certain taboo subjects or having points of view that are either censored, shunned or considered highly controversial or offensive to advocate or even mention.

It is most commonly used in North America. Though commonly attributed to Tip O'Neill,^[1] Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1987, it seems to have been coined by O'Neill aide Kirk O'Donnell in 1982 in reference to Social Security.^[2]

American examples of usage[]

A wide range of issues might be claimed detrimental to politicians tackling them, but those below have all been explicitly described using the "third rail" metaphor:

• Withdrawal of Social Security and Medicare benefits^[3][4][5][6]
• Debate of race issues.^{[7][8][9][10]}
• Antidumping and countervailing duty withdrawal^[11]
• Opposition to abortion for rape victims^[12]
• Resuming the draft^[13]
• National content policy in export finance^[14]
• The role that gifted education plays in modern public school segregation^[15]
• Debate about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and U.S. support for Israel^[16][17][18]
• Debate about mass immigration and "White Replacement"^[19][20]
• Diverting water from the Great Lakes to the Southwest^[21]
• California's Proposition 13 on property tax^[22]

Outside the U.S.[]

Argentina[]

• The Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute^[23]

Australia[]

• Climate change^[24]

Canada[]

• Public health care^[25]
• Canada Pension Plan^[26]

India[]

• Income tax for agricultural income^[27]

United Kingdom[]

• Drug policy^[28]
• Reform of the National Health Service^[29]
• Social care^[30]
• West Lothian question^[31]

China[]

• Questioning the political status of Taiwan^{[citation needed]}
• Self-governing government in Hong Kong^[32]
• Any of the issues affected by official censorship in China^{[citation needed]}
• Any mention of or related events of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre.

Singapore[]

The term OB marker ("out of bounds marker", a golf term)^{[citation needed]} is widely used in Singapore for forbidden topics, such as:

• Homosexuality^{[citation needed]}
• Corruption^{[citation needed]}
• The Sedition Act makes it illegal to "promote feelings of ill-will or hostility between different races or classes of the population".^{[citation needed]}

International politics[]

• The political status of Crimea^[33]

See also[]

• Asch conformity experiments – Study of if and how individuals yielded to or defied a majority group
• Communal reinforcement – Social phenomenon where a meme is repeatedly asserted in a community, regardless of whether it is sufficiently supported by evidence
• Foot-in-the-door technique
• Groupthink – Psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people
• Overton window – Range of ideas tolerated in public discourse
• Spiral of silence

References[]