retail politics Syllabification: (re·tail pol·i·tics)Definition of retail politics noun [also treated as singular] (in the US) a style of political campaigning in which the candidate attends local events in order to target voters on a small-scale or individual basis. Origin: early 20th century: first referring to the practice of paying for votesretail politics in other Oxford dictionaries Definition of retail politics in the British & World English dictionary