Cabal

Cabal is a term used to describe a small group of people united for private or secret purposes, especially within a government or organization. It often implies secrecy and behind-the-scenes influence and is typically used in a pejorative sense, though it can be neutral when describing informal coalitions or factional groups.

The best-known historical reference is the Cabal ministry in Restoration England around 1668–1674. The name derives from the five close advisers to King Charles II—Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale—whose initials formed the acronym CABAL. The group’s secrecy and private negotiations gave rise to the general use of “cabal” for covert political maneuvering and backroom deals.

In modern usage, cabal describes any small, exclusive, and often secretive group within a larger organization. The term can carry a negative connotation, signaling manipulation or conspiracy, but it can also simply denote a private coalition working toward shared goals outside of formal processes.

In computing, Cabal refers to the packaging system for the Haskell programming language. Cabal manages the building, packaging, and distribution of Haskell libraries and programs, with commands such as cabal update, cabal configure, cabal build, and cabal install. The Cabal specification defines how packages declare dependencies and build information to enable reproducible installations and cross-platform compatibility within the Haskell ecosystem.

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