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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. It is most commonly used in North America, apparently first by Tip O'Neill, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives during the Reagan presidency in reference to Social Security. The metaphor comes from the high-voltage third rail in some electric railway systems. Stepping on this usually results in electrocution, and the use of the term in politics relates to the risk of "political death" that a politician would face by tackling certain issues. ==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" metephor: * Withdrawal of Social Security benefits〔("Third rail politics" by Chicago Tribune )〕〔("Why is Social Security Called the Third Rail of American Politics?" by Senior Living - About.com )〕 * Withdrawal of Medicare benefits〔("Medicare: the new Third Rail of American politics?" ), The Washington Post〕 * Debate of race issues〔(''Still a House Divided: Race and Politics in Obama's America'' ), Desmond S. King, Rogers M. Smith, Reprint edition December 8, 2013, Princeton University Press, (books.google.com ): "Sociologist John David Skrentny exaggerates only slightly when he says that at this point, advocacy of racial preferences was a 'third rail' in American politics: 'touch it and you die.'" 〕〔(Going Deep: Race and the Third Rail ), 07/04/2014, Allison Samuels, Huffington Post〕〔(Daring to Touch the Third Rail ), Robert Koehler, Newsweek, 01/19/08, "Obama has avoided being pigeonholed as the "black candidate" and has mostly steered clear of talking about race on the campaign trail (at least until his recent fracas with Hillary Clinton over whether she besmirched King's legacy by noting President Lyndon Johnson's role in the Civil Rights Act). But Michelle hasn't backed away from discussing her experiences of race and prejudice."〕〔(Short-Circuiting the New Third Rail in Politics ), July 20, 2012, Suzanne Fields, RealClearPolitics, "Race has become the third rail of American politics. Touch it, and you die. It's the rail some of our angriest Democrats want to ride Mitt Romney and the Republicans out of town on."〕 * Antidumping and countervailing duty withdrawal〔("Antidumping: The Third Rail of Trade Policy" by ForeignAffairs.com - Council on Foreign Relations )〕 * Opposition to abortion for rape victims * Agricultural subsidies〔http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/05/04/its-time-for-republicans-to-stand-up-for-free-market-including-agriculture/〕 * Conscription〔http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2005/0503.carter.html〕 * Debate about support for Israel〔("Grabbing the Third Rail" ), 2006, Paige Austin, Mother Jones〕〔("Touching The Third Rail: Israel and New York Politics" ), Jonathan Tasini, Huffington Post 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Third rail of politics」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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