Third rail (politics)

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.

Third rails used to power trains usually result in the death by electrocution of anyone who comes into direct contact with them.

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][3]

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^[4][5][6][7]
• Debate of race issues^{[8][9][10][11]}
• Antidumping and countervailing duty withdrawal^[12]
• Opposition to abortion for rape victims^[13]
• Resuming the draft^[14]
• The role that gifted education plays in modern public school segregation^[15]
• Debate about U.S. support for Israel^[16][17][18]
• Diverting water from the Great Lakes to the Southwest^[19]
• Guns, including semi-automatic weapons and child safety locks.^[20][21][22]
• The impact of meat consumption on climate change^[23]
• The transfer of Federal lands over to states^[24]

Outside the U.S.

Argentina

• The Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute^[25]

Australia

• Policies to address climate change^[26]
• Introducing Constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, Makarrata Commission and Indigenous treaties^[27][28][29]
• Removing or reforming Negative Gearing^[30]

Canada

• Reforming or privatizing public health care^[31]
• Reforming or privatizing the Canada Pension Plan^[32]

Germany

• Introducing a speed limit on Autobahns^[33][34]

India

• The introduction of income tax for agricultural income^[35]

Republic of Ireland

• Abortion was viewed as a third rail prior to the Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland which legalised it in 2018^[36][37][38]
• The provision of medical cards (which grant free or low-price healthcare to people on low incomes and the chronically ill)^[39][40]

United Kingdom

• Drug policy^[41]
• Reform of the National Health Service^[42]
• Social care^[43]
• West Lothian question^[44]
• Rejoining the European Union^[45][46]

China

• Advocating for Hong Kong independence^[47]

See also

• Politics portal

• Asch conformity experiments – Series of psychology studies
• Communal reinforcement – Social phenomenon
• Foot-in-the-door technique – Compliance tactic
• Groupthink – Psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people
• Overton window – Range of ideas tolerated in public discourse
• Spiral of silence – Political science and mass communication theory