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{{short description|Clever scheme or artful plot, usually crafted for evil purposes}}
{{other uses}}
[[File:There's no cabal.png|thumb|A humorous [[cartoon]] depicting a cabal.]]
A '''cabal''' is a group of people who are united in some close design, usually to promote their private views or interests in an ideology, a [[state (polity)|state]], or another community, often by [[Wiktionary:intrigue|intrigue]] and usually without the knowledge of those who are outside their group. The use of this term usually carries negative connotations of political purpose, [[conspiracy]] and [[secrecy]].<ref name=Collins>{{Cite web|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/cabal|title=Collins English Dictionary: Cabal|language=en|access-date=2018-05-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wordpandit.com/cabal/|title=Wordpandit: Cabal|date=12 February 2011|language=en|access-date=2018-05-01}}</ref> It can also refer to a secret plot or a [[clique]], or it may be used as a verb (to form a cabal or secretly conspire).<ref name=Collins /><ref>{{Cite magazine|url= https://time.com/5936036/secret-2020-election-campaign/|title=The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |first=Molly | last=Ball|date=2021-02-04 | accessdate=2021-04-27 |quote=a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information.}}</ref>

== Etymology ==

The term ''cabal'' is derived from [[Kabbalah]] (a word that has numerous spelling variations), the [[Jewish mysticism|Jewish mystical]] interpretation of the Hebrew scripture (קַבָּלָה). In [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], it means "received doctrine" or "tradition",<ref>''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'' (3rd edition), [[Houghton-Mifflin]], Boston/New York, ©1992, p. 365</ref> while in European culture ([[Christian Cabala]], [[Hermetic Qabalah]]) it became associated with [[occult]] doctrine or a secret.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Kabbalah : a very short introduction|last=Dan|first=Joseph|page=67|date=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195327052|location=New York, NY|oclc=60664380}}</ref>

It came into English via the French ''cabale'' from the medieval Latin ''cabbala'', and was known early in the 17th century through usages linked to [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] and [[Oliver Cromwell]]. By the middle of the 17th century, it had developed further to mean some intrigue entered into by a small group and also referred to the group of people so involved, i.e. a semi-secret political clique.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-cab1.htm|title=World Wide Words: Cabal|language=en|access-date=2018-05-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180501021445/http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-cab1.htm|archive-date=2018-05-01}}</ref>

There is a theory that the term took on its present meaning from a group of ministers formed in 1668 – the "[[Cabal ministry]]" of King [[Charles II of England]]. Members included [[Thomas Clifford, 1st Baron Clifford of Chudleigh|Sir Thomas Clifford]], [[Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington|Lord Arlington]], the [[George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham|Duke of Buckingham]], [[Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury|Lord Ashley]] and [[John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale|Lord Lauderdale]], whose initial letters coincidentally spelled CABAL,<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Cabal |volume=4 |page=913}}</ref> and who were the signatories of the public Treaty of Dover that allied [[England]] to [[France]] in a prospective war against the [[Netherlands]], and served as a cover for the [[Secret Treaty of Dover]].<ref>Durant, Will and Ariel. ''The Age of Louis XIV''. (page 277) New York: Simon And Schuster, 1963.</ref> The theory that the word originated as an acronym from the names of the group of ministers is a [[folk etymology]], although the coincidence was noted at the time and could possibly have popularized its use.<ref name=HCG>{{Cite book|title=Europe: Its Influence on South Africa|last=Girdlestone|first=Henry Clapcott|page=178|edition=11th impression, revised & enlarged by Cecil Lewis|date=1926|publisher=Juta & Co.|location=Cape Town}}</ref>

== Usage in the Netherlands ==

In [[Dutch language|Dutch]], the word ''kabaal'', also ''kabale'' or ''cabale,'' was used during the 18th century in the same way. The ''Friesche Kabaal'' (Frisian Cabal) denoted the [[Frisians|Frisian]] pro-[[House of Orange|Orange]] nobility which supported the ''stadholderate'', but also had great influence on ''[[stadtholders]]'' [[William IV, Prince of Orange|Willem IV]] and [[William V, Prince of Orange|Willem V]] and their regents, and therefore on the matters of state in the [[Dutch Republic]].<ref>see ''[[:nl:Fries Cabaal]]''</ref> This influence came to an end when the major Frisian nobles at the court fell out of favor. The word nowadays has the meaning of noise, uproar, racket.<ref>see ''[[:nl:kabaal]]''</ref> It was derived as such from French and mentioned for the first time in 1845.<ref>[https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/sijs002chro01_01/sijs002chro01_01_0035.php?q=kabaal#hl1 Kabaal] in: DBnl.org</ref>

==Conspiratorial discourse==
Followers of the [[QAnon]] [[conspiracy theory]] use "The Cabal" to refer to what is perceived as a secret worldwide elite organization who, according to proponents, wish to undermine [[democracy]] and [[freedom]], and implement their own [[globalism|globalist]] agendas.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zuckerman |first1=Ethan |title=QAnon and the Emergence of the Unreal |journal=Journal of Design and Science |date=2019 |issue=6 |pages=1–5 |url=https://innovation.disi.unitn.it/ibict/2019/readings/mandatory/08%20Zuckerman%20%E2%80%94%20QAnon%20and%20the%20Unreal.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200702034054/https://innovation.disi.unitn.it/ibict/2019/readings/mandatory/08%20Zuckerman%20%E2%80%94%20QAnon%20and%20the%20Unreal.pdf |archive-date=2020-07-02 |url-status=live |quote=At [QAnon's] core is the idea that all American presidents between John F. Kennedy and Donald Trump have been working with a cabal of globalist elites called "The Cabal" to undermine American democracy and forward their own nefarious agenda.&nbsp;... In all versions of the mythos, the Cabal seeks to destroy American freedom and subjugate the nation to the wills of a world government.}}</ref>

Some anti-government movements in [[Australia]], particularly those that emerged during Canberra's response to the pandemic, that [[Scott Morrison]]’s secret ministerial appointments were evidence of what they said was happening all along – a "secret cabal".<ref>[https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/morrison-s-secret-appointments-are-slippery-slope Lydia Khalil, ''Morrison’s secret appointments are a slippery slope'', Lowy Institute, 31 August 2022].</ref>

The term is sometimes employed as an [[antisemitic]] [[Dog whistle (politics)|dog whistle]] due to its evocation of centuries-old antisemitic tropes.<ref name=AJC>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ajc.org/translatehate/cabal|title=AJC Translate Hate Glossary: Cabal|date=10 March 2021 |language=en|access-date=2022-05-11}}</ref><ref name=ASM>{{cite book|last1= Hübscher |first1= Monika |last2=Von Mering |first2= Sabine |title=Antisemitism on Social Media |publisher=Routledge |year=2022 |isbn= 9781032059693 |page=25}}</ref>

==See also==
<!-- Please respect alphabetical order -->
{{Div col}} 
* [[Camarilla]]
* [[Clandestine cell system]]
* [[Clique]]
* [[Club (organization)|Club]]
* [[Collusion]]
* [[Cronyism]]
* [[Cult]]
* [[Elitism]]
* [[Firm]] 
* [[Gang]]
* [[Group narcissism]]
* [[Mobbing]]
* [[Nepotism]]
* [[Obscurantism]]
* [[Power behind the throne]]
* [[Social group]]
* [[The Establishment]]
* [[There Is No Cabal]]
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Wiktionary-inline|cabal}}
* {{Wikiquote-inline|Cabal}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Conspiracy theories}}

[[Category:Secret societies]]
[[Category:Cliques]]
[[Category:Antisemitism]]