heresthetics
n.— «Even if problems, solutions, and politics are coupled, it is still possible to lose during formal adoption sessions to shrewd opponents who find ways to split the coalition or to use the formal decision-making rules of the relevant arena to defeat what otherwise would be a “sure” winner. This is where a knowledge of “heresthetics”—the name Riker (1996) gives to “the art of political manipulation”—is essential. » —by John M. Bryson, Barbara C. Crosby Leadership for the Common Good Nov. 4, 1992. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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