Resolution criteria

This market resolves YES if any candidate running for US federal office in 2026 (House, Senate) uses the phrase "Kardashev scale" in an official capacity—including campaign speeches, official statements, policy documents, social media posts from official campaign accounts, or debate appearances—between now and November 3, 2026. The phrase must be used verbatim or as a clear reference to the concept. Casual mentions in interviews or unofficial contexts do not count; usage must occur in a formal campaign or official setting.

Resolution will be determined by documented evidence from news reports, campaign archives, debate transcripts, or official social media records. The market resolves NO if no such usage is documented by the end of Election Day 2026.

Background

The Kardashev scale is a hypothetical measure of a civilization's level of technological advancement, proposed by the Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev. The scale ranks civilizations on their energy usage, with a Type I civilization being able to use the entire energy of a planet, a Type II civilization being able to use the entire energy of a star, and a Type III civilization being able to use the entire energy of a galaxy. It remains primarily an academic and science fiction concept with no practical application to contemporary politics.

Considerations

The Kardashev scale is an obscure theoretical framework from astrophysics with virtually no relevance to electoral politics or policy debates. Its use in a campaign context would be highly unusual and would likely signal either a candidate with a strong science communication focus or an attempt at novelty messaging. The phrase is not part of standard political discourse.

This description was generated by AI.

Update: that candidate must be part of mainstream party, or have a decent chance of winning, and have won their parties primary.