party lines
Shared telephone connections
Party lines are positions officially adopted by political parties that members are expected to support.
To vote the party line or toe the party line is to follow the official stance rather than one's own judgment.
The phrase often carries a slightly negative connotation, suggesting conformity over independent thought.
Separately, a party line was a telephone circuit shared by multiple households—neighbors could listen in on each other's calls, which required trust and discretion.
- politicalOf government matters
- propagandaBiased information for influence
- conformityAdherence to norms
- coalitionTemporary alliance for action
- loyaltyFaithful commitment to another
cross the aisle · neighbors · agenda · switchboard · listen in · gossip · landline · rural · phone tree · caucus · orthodoxy · lines · wiretapping · policies · old-fashioned · telephone · voting · voting record
- obsolete techfloppy disk, VHS, dial-up modem, cassette tape, floppy disks
- phone servicesvoicemail, caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, call blocking
- Political PartiesLabour, GOP, Democrats, Republicans, BNP
- Phreakingblue box, red box, Cap'n Crunch, Captain Crunch, phreaker
party linesindependent thought
Self-directed reasoning
nonpartisanship · political independence · freethinking · individual conscience · critical thinking
party linesopen-mindedness
Acceptance of differing viewpoints
critical thinking · flexible thinking · pragmatism · intellectual curiosity
line, party, partisan, bipartisan, partying, parties, partied, partygoer, party line