Political entrenchment means making political change more difficult than it otherwise would be

Evidence

Political “entrenchment” is discussed more often than it is defined, and it is not clear that any single definition captures all uses of the term. At the most general level, “entrenchment” means that political change has been made more difficult than it otherwise would (or should) be. “Political change” is obviously a broad category. At the level of constitutionalism, the relevant objects of stasis and change include the structure of government, the boundaries and allocation of governmental powers, and the set of rules and rights prohibiting specific governmental actions. At the subconstitutional level, political change can mean change in which politicians or parties are elected to office or change in the substantive policy outcomes generated by these power holders and their supporters. — Daryl Levinson and Benjamin I. Sachs, Political Entrenchment and Public Law, 47

Categorization

• DEFINE: Core working definition of entrenchment-as-impediment, distinguishing constitutional from subconstitutional objects of change.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Daryl Levinson and Benjamin I. Sachs, Political Entrenchment and Public Law, 47
• XREF: connects to: Learning and adaptive preference shifts under a policy can themselves function as entrenchment — Daryl Levinson and Benjamin I. Sachs, Political Entrenchment and Public Law, 56; Policy persistence from popularity is not entrenchment; only nonresponsiveness to preference shifts is — Daryl Levinson and Benjamin I. Sachs, Political Entrenchment and Public Law, 51; Political entrenchment operates through informal and coercive means, not only formal legal rules — Daryl Levinson and Benjamin I. Sachs, Political Entrenchment and Public Law, 48 (+16 more)

Broader Connections

• Entrenchment often arises from unintended path-dependent feedback, not strategic design #expands (0.80) — Daryl Levinson and Benjamin I. Sachs, Political Entrenchment and Public Law, 492
• When formal entrenchment is blocked, policy actors substitute physical or functional barriers instead. #expands (0.80) — Daryl Levinson and Benjamin I. Sachs, Political Entrenchment and Public Law, 185
• Political entrenchment is coextensive with history’s influence if defined by dead-hand sway #expands (0.75) — Daryl Levinson and Benjamin I. Sachs, Political Entrenchment and Public Law, 502
• Neutralizing opponents and mobilizing supporters are interchangeable entrenchment tactics #qualifies (0.75) — Daryl Levinson and Benjamin I. Sachs, Political Entrenchment and Public Law, 247