the.com/chairmanship
The art of looking neutral while steering every outcome you wanted anyway.
means The position and tenure of being the chairman or chair — the formal role of presiding over a board, committee, or meeting.
from Built plainly in English from 'chairman' plus the suffix '-ship,' which marks a state, office, or skill (compare 'leadership,' 'citizenship'). 'Chairman' itself goes back to the literal chair — in meetings and councils, the person who sat in the one special seat got to run the proceedings, so the piece of furniture became the job title. The suffix '-ship' traces to Old English '-scipe,' related to 'shape,' originally conveying a created or shaped condition — so chairmanship is, etymologically, 'the shaped state of being the one in the chair.'
- real power
- controls the agenda, not just the gavel
- term limits
- often rotate yearly to prevent quiet empires
- etymology
- literally just the chair, elevated to office
- illusion
- sounds ceremonial, votes rarely are