A situation in which a group of political parties band together to take opposing sides of certain issues, but take the same side on other issues. If the parties are powerful enough, voters on the opposite side of the other issues are left without a viable voting option. Instead, they must either not vote, vote for a candidate of another political party that stands no chance of winning, or vote for one of the major political parties that most closely aligns with their beliefs.

(informal) Synonym of politicianese