Bully pulpit
Etymology
Coined by Theodore Roosevelt, who used "bully" in its then-current sense of "excellent" or "first-rate" and "pulpit" as a preacher’s platform for moral advocacy. He described the presidency itself as a bully pulpit — a magnificent stage from which to rally the public.
noun phrase · /BUUL-ee PUUL-pit/
A prominent office or platform that lets its holder command public attention and shape opinion.
What it names
The power that comes not from formal authority but from a position’s sheer visibility — the ability to set the national conversation simply by speaking.
Example
A mayor has few legal powers over schools, but she can use the bully pulpit to shame a district into reform.
Related idea
Overlaps with soft power, which operates between nations through attraction; the bully pulpit is its domestic cousin, wielded by an individual leveraging the prestige of an office.