Word of the Week
Word of the Week features words in the news or in topical issues or commonly used in government and politics.
Autocrat
Community
Compliance
Concurrency
Contiguous
Curmudgeon
Disingenuous
Facilitator
Gadfly
Graffiti
Nuisance
Populist and Populism
Retreat
Scheme
Vision / Envision
Wonk and Policy wonk
Concurrency n. Concurrency of development with deployment
Infrastructure to be in place while development occurs.
Caution; in Washoe County this definition has not been finalized.
Gadfly (social), a term for people who upset the status quo
1. A persistent, irritating critic; a nuisance.
2. One that acts as a provocative stimulus; a goad.
Wonk and Policy wonk:
* Wonk (colloquial American English) was originally a 1960s slang word applied to an excessively studious person (equivalent to "nerd"). The origins of the term are obscure. It has been described as a simple reversal of "know."
* Policy wonk, presumably from the above, is someone knowledgeable about and fascinated by details of government policy and programs
Curmudgeon n. An ill-tempered person full of resentment and stubborn notions. [Origin unknown.] --cur·mudg“eon·ly adj. --cur·mudg“eon·ry n.
Autocrat n. 1. A ruler having unlimited power; a despot. 2. A person with unlimited power or authority: a corporate autocrat. [French autocrate, from Greek autokrats, ruling by oneself : auto.
Vision:
1. Unusual competence in discernment or perception; intelligent foresight: a leader of vision.
2. The manner in which one sees or conceives of something.
3. A mental image produced by the imagination.
4. A person or thing of extraordinary beauty.
Envision:
1. To picture in the mind; imagine.
Retreat:
retreat n. 1. The act or process of withdrawing, especially from something hazardous, formidable, or unpleasant. 2. A place affording peace, quiet, privacy. 3. A period of seclusion, retirement, or solitude. 4. A period of group withdrawal for prayer, meditation, and study.
When Elected Office Holders hold meetings somewhere other than their normal location they call it a RETREAT.
Scheme:
scheme n. 1. A systematic plan of action. 2. A secret or devious plan; a plot. See Synonyms at plan. 3. An impractical or unrealistic plan: “Your scheme yields no revenue; it yields nothing but discontent, disorder, disobedience” (Edmund Burke). 4. An orderly combination of related parts: an irrigation scheme with dams, reservoirs, and channels. 5. A chart, a diagram, or an outline of a system or an object. --scheme v. schemed, schem·ing, schemes. --tr. 1. To plot: scheming their revenge. 2. To contrive a plan or scheme for. --intr. To make plans, especially secret or devious ones.
When government planners use the word "scheme" the definition that they are using is simply "A systematic plan of action" and not any of the more negative definitions.
Populist:
pop·u·list n. 1. A supporter of the rights and power of the people. 2. Populist. A supporter of the Populist Party. --pop·u·list adj. 1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of populism or its advocates: a populist aversion to business monopolies. 2. Populist. Of or relating to the Populist Party.
Populism:
pop·u·lism n. 1.a. A political philosophy supporting the rights and power of the people in their struggle against the privileged elite. b. The movement organized around this philosophy.
Populist Party:
The Populist Party (also known as the People's Party) was a relatively short-lived political party in the United States in the late 1800 hundreds. Although the party did not remain a lasting feature of the political landscape, many of its terms have. The very term "populist" has since become a generic term in U.S. politics for appealing to the public in opposition to established special interests.
