The story
Introduced by political scientist Brendan Nyhan in 2009 https://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2009/12/the-costs-of-green-lanternism.html; named after the comic book character Green Lantern.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Green Lantern theory
Today it means: The misconception that the president of the United States can achieve any political or policy objective by trying hard enough or using the right tactics. Full definition →