Lame Duck
A Lame Duck ("lame duck") in the political system of the United States is a president or other politician who is still in office, but is not running for re-election or has lost an election. Especially domestically, he is considered incapable of acting.
Since the presidential election in the United States ("General Elections") is set for the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, but presidents will not be installed until January 20, the president will remain in office for a good ten weeks if he is not re-elected. Such a president should not initiate any important laws or fill important positions during this period, e.g. B. Judicial posts at the Supreme Court .
In a somewhat more general way, the term describes a politician who will leave office in the foreseeable future. B. because:
- he cannot be re-elected ( Barack Obama 2016, George W. Bush 2008, Bill Clinton 2000)
- he renounces a new candidacy or re-election and thus announces his withdrawal from politics months in advance ( Lyndon B. Johnson 1968, New York Governor David Paterson 2010)
The term is also used as soon as the party to which the president belongs loses the majority in Congress and the president can no longer pass laws without the political opponent.
Adoptions of terms
The term "lame duck" is now also used outside of US politics:
- Günther Oettinger called the German Chancellor Angela Merkel a "lame duck" in September 2018.
- In sport, coaches who want or have to leave the club are called "lame ducks" or "lame ducks".
- Company bosses whose contracts have not been extended are often referred to as "lame ducks".
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Patrick Labriola and Jürgen Schiffer: Political dictionary on the government system of the USA: English-German, German-English . Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2001, p. 202 ( online on Google books ).
- ↑ Oettinger calls Merkel the "lame duck". In: SZ.de . September 27, 2018, accessed November 26, 2018 .
- ↑ The Lame Duck Syndrome . Süddeutsche Zeitung, March 9, 2011.
- ↑ Kristin Schmidt, Jan Guldner: This is how outgoing CEOs use their time as a lame duck. In: Wirtschaftswoche . July 10, 2018, accessed November 26, 2018 .