Obstructionism is when someone deliberately slows down a process, especially in politics or the law. In several countries, legislators sometimes engage in obstructionism when they walk very, very slowly to a podium to cast their votes.
One of the most well-known tools of political obstructionism is the filibuster, which can be employed responsibly but is often used simply to delay or even prevent voting on a controversial bill. When a US Senator filibusters, they extend the debate on a bill by talking for a very long time, a process that's sometimes called "talking a bill to death." Obstructionism comes from obstruction, or "barrier," from the Latin obstruere, "block or hinder."