Everything about Caucus totally explained
A
caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a
political party or movement. The exact definition varies among political cultures.
In the United States
In
United States politics and government,
caucus has several distinct but related meanings. One meaning is a meeting of members of a
political party or subgroup to coordinate members' actions, choose group policy, or nominate candidates for various offices. The term is frequently used to discuss the procedures used by some states to select
presidential nominees, such as the
Iowa caucuses, the first and largest in the modern
presidential election cycle, and the only occasionally relevant
Texas caucuses.
Since 1980 such caucuses have become, in the aggregate, an important component of the nomination process. Because such caucuses are infrequent and complex to organize, there's a practice version called a
maucus, a
portmanteau of
mock caucus.
In early American history, the
Congressional nominating caucus and legislative caucus were influential meetings of congressmen to decide the party's nominee for President and party platforms. Similar caucuses were held by the parties at state level.
Another meaning is a subgrouping of officials with shared affinities or ethnicities who convene, often but not always to advocate, agitate, lobby or to vote collectively, on policy. At the highest level, in
Congress and many state legislatures,
Democratic and
Republican members organize themselves into a caucus (occasionally called a "conference"). There can be smaller caucuses in a legislative body, including those which are multi-
partisan or even
bicameral. Of the many
Congressional caucuses, one of the best-known is the
Congressional Black Caucus, a group of
African-American members of Congress. Another prominent example is the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus, whose members voice and advance issues affecting
Hispanics in the United States, including
Puerto Rico. In a different vein, the Congressional Internet Caucus is a bipartisan group of Members who wish to promote the growth and advancement of the Internet. Other congressional caucuses such as the
Out of Iraq Caucus, are openly organized
tendencies or
political factions (within the
House Democratic Caucus, in this case), and strive to achieve political goals, similar to a European "
platform," but generally organized around a single issue.
Among American
left-wing groups, a caucus may be an openly organized
tendency or
political faction within the group, equivalent to a European "
platform". Examples would include the "Debs," "Coalition" and "Unity" Caucuses of the
Socialist Party of America in its last years.
In
Washington State, the caucus has become controversial. According to the
Web site for Washington Democrats
, even though the Washington State Legislature decided the state would hold a primary, the Washington State Democratic Party decided to continue choosing its delegates through the traditional caucuses. As a result, votes for a Democratic candidate in the State Primary don't count toward delegate selection, although the state will spend $9 to $10 million on it.
Despite a rule in the Democratic Party that delegates are to be allocated proportionally rather than winner take all, some individual caucus groups decide for themselves how to allocate their group's delegates — for instance, by using a majority vote to determine which of the two methods to select. Discussion of party rules isn't necessarily part of the caucus experience, and few rules govern the actual process. And, in the winner-take-all scenario, a group's delegate allocation may be reported as unanimous, with the minority votes ignored. Depending on how the caucus. is organized, the caucus system may require public announcement of which candidate a voter supports. Voters have the option to draft resolutions, and those are introduced by delegates at later divisional caucuses or conventions.
In Commonwealth nations
In some
Commonwealth nations, a caucus is a regular meeting of all
Members of Parliament who belong to a political party. In a
Westminster System, a party caucus can be quite powerful, as it can elect or dismiss the party's parliamentary leader. The caucus also determines some matters of policy, parliamentary tactics, and disciplinary measures against disobedient MPs. In some parties, the caucus also has the power to elect MPs to Cabinet when the party is in government. For example this is traditionally so in the
Australian Labor Party (ALP) and the
New Zealand Labour Party. The term is rarely used in the
United Kingdom.
Since
Kevin Rudd was elected Prime Minister of
Australia on
November 24 2007, he instead of the ALP caucus will choose the cabinet.
In
New Zealand and in ALP,
caucus can refer to the group of the MPs themselves, rather than their meeting. Thus, the Australian Federal Parliamentary Labor Party is commonly called "the Labor Caucus." The word was introduced to Australia by
King O'Malley, an American-born Labor member of the first federal Parliament in 1901; it presumably entered New Zealand politics at a similar time. In New Zealand, the term is used by all political parties, but in Australia, it's restricted to the Labor Party. For the Australian
Liberal and
National parties, and for all parties in the UK and the
Republic of Ireland (not a Commonwealth country), the usual term is "parliamentary party".
As in New Zealand, in
Canada caucus refers to all members of a particular party in Parliament, including senators, or a
provincial legislature. These members elect among themselves a
caucus chair who presides over their meetings and is an important figure when the party is in
opposition and an important link between
cabinet and the
backbench when the party is in
government.
The word can also be used to mean all the deputies in an assembly who come from a certain geographical or other background, for example "the Antarctic caucus."
In alternative dispute resolution
The term
caucus is also used in
mediation,
facilitation and other forms of
alternate dispute resolution to describe circumstances when, rather than meeting at a common table, the disputants retreat to a more private setting to process information, agree on negotiation strategy, confer privately with counsel and/or with the mediator, or simply gain "breathing room" after the often emotionally-difficult interactions that can occur in the common area where all parties are present. The degree to which caucuses are used can be a key defining element, and often an identifier, of the mediation model being used. For example, "facilitative mediation" tends to discourage the use of caucuses and tries to keep the parties talking at a single table, while "evaluative mediation" may allow parties to separate more often and rely on the mediator to shuttle information and offers back and forth.
Origin of the term
The origin of the word
caucus is debated, but it's generally agreed that it came into use in English in the
United States. According to some sources, it comes from the
Algonquian word for "counsel," 'cau´-cau-as´u', and was probably introduced into American politics through the
Democratic Party in
New York known as
Tammany Hall, which liked to use
Native American terms. Other sources claim that it derived from Medieval
Latin caucus, meaning "drinking vessel", and link it to the Caucus Club of colonial
Boston. It may also be derived from the
Arabic word, "قوقعه", which means shell or enclosed area.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Caucus'.
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