policy wonk

plural policy wonks

1. governmentA person who studies or develops strategies and policies, especially one who has a keen interest in and aptitude for technical details.

   But access to ministers is not the only reason right-of-centre policy wonks are excited.

   2010, The Economist, Jul-Aug, p. 25

   3 more examples

   Mondale's passionate attachment to the issue reflects his thralldom to the policy wonks and wise men of the Washington establishment.

   1984 Oct. 29, New Republic, p. 16

   Kirk O'Donnell, 42, who recently joined the campaign staff, is a unique combination of Boston pol and "policy wonk" who is best known in Washington as Tip O'Neill's former right-hand man, the guy who sold the speaker's program to the congressional troops.

   1988 July 25, Joe Klein, “'President Dukakis': what the First Hundred Days Could be Like”, in New York Magazine, volume 21, number 29, page 27

   Clinton and Gore . . . . both are new-ideas moderates with a policy wonk's love of the intricacies of complex issues.

   1992 July 20, Walter Shapiro, “Gore A Hard-Won Sense of Ease”, in Time