Caucus
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{{redirect|Caucuses|the [[Eurasia]]n geographic region|Caucasus}}
A '''caucus''' ({{audio|En-us-caucases.ogg|Pronunciation}}) is a meeting of supporters or members of a [[political party]] or movement. The exact definition varies among political cultures.
== In the United States ==
{{main|Congressional caucus}}
[[Image:2008 Wash State Democratic Caucus 15.jpg|thumb|Precincts from Washington State's 46th Legislative District caucus in a school lunchroom (2008).]]
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 nominee|presidential nominees]] such as the [[Iowa caucuses]], the first and largest in the modern [[United States presidential election|presidential election cycle]], and the only occasionally relevant [[Texas caucuses]].
<ref>[http://www.idahostatesman.com/editorial/story/288006.html Our View: Caucus turnout suggests change in Idaho politics | Editorial | Idaho Statesman<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
<ref>[http://www.idaho-democrats.org/ht/display/ReleaseDetails/i/1129358 Final Caucus Results<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
<ref>http://www.idahostatesman.com/eyepiece/story/286707.html</ref>
<ref>http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_id_idaho_caucus_overflow.html</ref>
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 is a practice version called a ''maucus'', a [[portmanteau]] of ''mock caucus''.<ref>[http://milehighgayguy.blogspot.com/2007/12/colorado-stonewall-dems-maucus.html MileHighGayGuy: Colorado Stonewall Dems Maucus<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://skepticalcommunity.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?p=338374&sid=80fe94ee19c520789b256ad04b6cfdc5 skepticalcommunity.com :: View topic - Maucus<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
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 [[United States Congress|Congress]] and many state legislatures, [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] and [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] members organize themselves into a caucus (occasionally called a "conference").<ref>See, e.g., [http://www.dems.gov U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Caucus], [http://www.gop.gov U.S. House of Representatives Republican Conference]; [http://democrats.senate.gov/members/ U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus]; [http://src.senate.gov U.S. Senate Republican Conference]; [http://democrats.sen.ca.gov/ California State Senate Democratic Caucus]</ref> There can be smaller caucuses in a legislative body, including those which are multi-[[partisan]] or even [[Bicameralism| bicameral]]. Of the many [[Congressional caucus]]es, 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 [[tendency|tendencies]] or [[political faction]]s (within the [[House Democratic Caucus]], in this case), and strive to achieve political goals, similar to a European "[[platform (European politics)|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 (European politics)|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.<ref>[http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=caucus06n1&date=20080206&query=caucus Search Results | Seattle Times Newspaper<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> According to the [http://www.wa-democrats.org/index.php?page=display&id=266 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 do not count toward delegate selection, although the state will spend $9 to $10 million on it.<ref>[http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/02/caucus_potus Caucus Potus | Slog | The Stranger | Seattle's Only Newspaper<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
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{{Fact|date=May 2008}} — for instance, by using a majority vote to determine which of the two methods to select. Discussion of party rules is not necessarily part of the caucus experience, and few rules govern the actual process{{Fact|date=May 2008}}. And, in the winner-take-all scenario, a group's delegate allocation may be reported as unanimous, with the minority votes ignored{{Fact|date=May 2008}}. 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{{Fact|date=May 2008}}.
== In Commonwealth nations ==
In some [[Commonwealth of Nations | Commonwealth]] nations, a caucus is a regular meeting of all [[Member of Parliament | 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.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/24/2100340.htm |title=Rudd will wield new power carefully, experts say |publisher=ABC News |date=[[November 24]] [[2007]] |accessdate=2008-01-03}}</ref>
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 is restricted to the Labor Party. For the Australian [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]] and [[National Party of Australia|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 [[province|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 (parliamentary)|opposition]] and an important link between [[cabinet]] and the [[backbencher|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]], [[facilitator|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==
[[Image:Alice par John Tenniel 09.png|thumb|250px|[[Lewis Carroll]] mocked the complexity of caucuses in Chapter 3, "A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale", of ''[[Alice in Wonderland]]''. After handing out [[prize]]s to others, Alice receives a thimble (her own) from a [[Dodo]] as her prize from the caucus race.]]
The origin of the word ''caucus'' is debated, but it is generally agreed that it came into use in English in the [[United States]]. According to some sources, it comes from the [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]] word for "counsel," 'cau´-cau-as´u', and was probably introduced into American politics through the [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic Party]] in [[New York]] known as [[Tammany Hall]], which liked to use [[Native Americans in the United States|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 ''{{ArabDIN|qawqaʿah}}'', "قوقعه", which means shell or enclosed area.
==References==
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