View source for Caucus

{{short description|Meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement}}
{{About|political meetings|the geographic region between Western Asia and Eastern Europe|Caucasus|the purported ancestor of Caucasians|Caucas}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{party politics}}

A '''caucus''' is a group or meeting of supporters or members of a specific [[political party]] or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures.

The term originated in the [[United States]], where it can refer to a meeting of members of a political party to nominate candidates, plan policy, etc., in the [[United States Congress]], or other similar representative organs of government. It has spread to certain [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] countries, including [[Australia]], [[Canada]], [[New Zealand]], and [[South Africa]], where it generally refers to a regular meeting of all [[members of Parliament]] (MPs) who belong to a [[parliamentary party]]: a party caucus may have the ability to elect or dismiss the party's [[parliamentary leader]]. The term was used historically in the [[United Kingdom]] to refer to the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]]'s internal system of management and control.

==Etymology==
[[Image:Alice par John Tenniel 09.png|thumb|[[Lewis Carroll]] mocked the futility of caucuses in "A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale", Chapter 3 of ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'' (1865): when the "Caucus-race" of running in a circle stops, everyone is declared a winner by the [[Dodo (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)|Dodo]] and Alice is told to hand out [[prize]]s to all others, receiving her own thimble as her prize.]]

The word ''caucus'' came into use in the British colonies of North America to describe clubs or private meetings at which political matters were discussed. It is first found in reference to the [[Boston Caucus|Caucus Club]] of [[Boston]], which was established in {{c.}}1719, although the name is not documented until {{c.}}1760. The origins of the word are uncertain, but there are three main theories:<ref name="bell">[http://boston1775.blogspot.com/2008/01/colonial-boston-vocabulary-caucus-part.html J. L. Bell, ""Boston 1775: Colonial Boston Vocabulary: 'caucus,' part 2"]</ref>

;Native American
:[[James Hammond Trumbull]] suggested to the [[American Philological Association]] that the word comes from an [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]] word for "counsel", ''cau´-cau-as´u''. It might also derive from the Algonquian ''cawaassough'', meaning an advisor, talker, or orator.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=James |title=The Earth Shall Weep |publisher=Atlantic Monthly Press |year=1999 |location=New York City, NY |pages=[https://archive.org/details/earthshallweephi00wils/page/104 104–105] |isbn=0-87113-730-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/earthshallweephi00wils/page/104 }}</ref> This explanation was favored by [[Charles Dudley Warner]].<ref>[http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3129/pg3129.txt ''The Story of Pocahontas"], Project Gutenberg</ref> 

;Drinking associations
:The ''[[American Heritage Dictionary]]'' suggests that the word possibly derives from medieval [[Latin]] ''caucus'', meaning "drinking vessel",<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=caucus|encyclopedia=American Heritage Dictionary |edition=4th |year=2000|location=Boston, MA|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company}}</ref> such as might have been used for the [[Flip (cocktail)|flip]] drunk at the Caucus Club (see [[John Adams]] quotation below). The appearance of the term coincides with the spreading in England – and therefore also in America – of the inns called ''cocues'' because they were places to drink the new cheap liquor called "[[gin]]" or "cuckoo liquor", since it was obtained from the [[distillation]] of so-called "cuckoo barley"; namely, [[barley]] sown very late in the spring and therefore unsuitable for the brewing of beer.<ref>See [[Pub#Advent of the modern pub]] and [[Gin#History]].</ref> That caucuses were places where people drank abundantly is attested by Obadiah Benjamin Franklin Bloomfield in his 1818 autobiography: "Richard had set out hospitably [...] A caucus had been accordingly held by these worthies, and it was resolved nem. con. that they should first make a [[drunkard]] of him, and then pluck him, aye, even of the last feather."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Life and Adventures of Obadiah Benjamin Franklin Bloomfield M.D. […] written by himself |location=Philadelphia |year=1818 |page=[https://archive.org/details/lifeandadventur00frangoog/page/n156 138] |publisher=Published for the proprietor |url=https://archive.org/details/lifeandadventur00frangoog }}</ref>

;Shipbuilding
:A third theory is that the word is a corruption of "caulkers" (i.e., persons who apply [[caulk]]), in the sense of [[shipbuilder]]s. This derivation was suggested by [[John Pickering (linguist)|John Pickering]] in 1816 in ''A Vocabulary; or, Collection of Words and Phrases Which Have Been Supposed to Be Peculiar to the U.S. of America''. It was later adopted by [[Noah Webster]] and also appears in an article of 1896 on the origins of the caucus – in all cases citing the 1788 passage by William Gordon quoted below (although Gordon only mentions shipbuilding incidentally, and does not imply any direct connection with the caucus).<ref name="bell"/><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U80xAQAAMAAJ |title=Great Leaders and National Issues of 1896: Containing the Lives of the Republican and Democratic Candidates for President and Vice-president, Biographical Sketches of the Leading Men of All Parties |chapter=Famous Presidential Campaigns of the Past: the origins of the 'Caucus' |last1=Ellis |first1=Edward Sylvester |last2=Reed |first2=Thomas Brackett |last3=Wilson |first3=William Lyne |last4=Sherman |first4=John |last5=Upton |first5=J. K. |date=1896 |publisher=International Publishing Company |location=Philadelphia |page=17 |language=en }}</ref> It likewise appears in ''[[Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography]]'' (1888), where it is suggested that the term's roots lay in what is here called the "caulkers' club" of Boston, formed by [[Samuel Adams Sr.]] and a group of "sea-captains, shipwrights, and persons otherwise connected with the shipping interest".<ref name="Appletons">{{cite book |editor-last=Wilson |editor-first=James Grant |editor-last2=Fiske |editor-first2=John |title=[[Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography]] |volume=1 Aaron–Crandall |chapter=[[Samuel Adams|Adams, Samuel]] |location=New York |year=1888 |page=[https://archive.org/details/appletonscyclop01wils/page/28/mode/2up?view=theater 29] |publisher=D. Appleton and Company }}</ref> This entry also discusses [[Samuel Adams|Samuel Adams Jr.]]'s fondness for quoting Greek and Latin "after the [[pedant]]ic fashion of the time",<ref name="Appletons"/> which might provide a context for a coinage with a Latin suffix.

===Early usage===
The ''[[Boston Gazette]]'' of May 5, 1760, includes an essay commenting:

{{blockquote|Whereas it is reported, that certain Persons, of the Modern ''Air and Complexion'', to the Number of Twelve at least, have divers Times of late been known to combine together, and are called by the Name of the ''New and Grand Corcas'', tho' of declared Principles directly opposite to all that have heretofore been known: And whereas it is vehemently suspected, by some, that their Design is nothing less, than totally to overthrow the ancient Constitution of our Town-Meetings, as being popular and mobbish …}}

The writer goes on to argue that the underhand attempts of this "New and Grand Corcas" to influence voters are in opposition to the more laudable activities of "the old and true Corcas".<ref>{{cite news |title=Supplement |newspaper=[[Boston Gazette]] |date=May 5, 1760 |issue=266 |page=[1] }}</ref><ref name="birth">{{cite web |first=J. L. |last=Bell |title=Birth of the Caucus |website=Journal of the American Revolution |date=November 15, 2013 |url=https://allthingsliberty.com/2013/11/birth-caucus/ |accessdate=26 February 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{OED|caucus}}</ref>

A February 1763 entry in the diary of [[John Adams]] demonstrates that the word already held its modern connotations of a "[[smoke-filled room]]" where candidates for public election were pre-selected in private:
{{blockquote|This day learned that the Caucas Clubb meets at certain Times in the Garret of [[Thomas Dawes|Tom Daws]], the [[Adjutant]] of the Boston Regiment. He has a large House, and he has a moveable Partition in his Garrett, which he takes down and the whole Clubb meets in one Room. There they smoke tobacco till you cannot see from one End of the Garrett to the other. There they drink [[Flip (cocktail)|Phlip]] I suppose, and there they choose a Moderator, who puts Questions to the Vote regularly, and [[Selectman]], [[tax assessor |Assessor]]s, [[tax collector| Collector]]s, Wardens, [[fire warden|Fire Ward]]s, and Representatives are Regularly chosen before they are chosen in the Town&nbsp; …<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/01-01-02-0008-0001-0005 |title=Founders Online: Boston Feby. 1763. |website=founders.archives.gov |access-date=2016-02-26 }}</ref>}}

The following month, a writer signing himself "E. J." and claiming to be "a late Member" of the Boston "Corkass", explained in greater detail how the inner circle of the "Petty Corkass" manipulated the business of the broader "Grand Corkass":

{{blockquote|At present the heads of this venerable Company meet some weeks before a Town-Meeting, and consult among themselves, appoint town officers, and settle all other affairs that are to be transacted at town meeting; after these few have settled the affairs, they communicate them to the next better sort of their brethren; when they have been properly sounded and instructed, they meet with the heads; these are called the Petty Corkass: Here each recommends his friends, opposes others, juggle and trim, and often have pretty warm disputes; but by compounding and compromising, settle every thing before the Grand Corkass meets; tho' for form sake … a number of warm disputes are prepared, to entertain the lower sort …<ref>{{cite news |author=E. J. |title=An Impartial Account of the Conduct of the Corkass By a late Member of that Society |newspaper=[[Boston Evening-Post]] |date=21 March 1763 }}</ref><ref name="birth"/>}}

William Gordon commented in 1788:
{{blockquote|The word ''caucus'', and its derivative caucusing, are often used in Boston […] It seems to mean, a number of persons, whether more or less, met together to consult upon adopting or presenting some scheme of policy, for carrying a favorite point. The word is not of novel invention. More than fifty years ago, Mr. [[Samuel Adams]]'s father, and twenty others, one or two from the north end of the town, where all the ship business is carried on, used to meet, make a caucus, and lay their plan for introducing certain persons into places of trust and power.<ref>{{cite book |first=William |last=Gordon |title=The History of the Rise, Progress and Establishment of the Independence of the United States of America: including an account of the late war, and of the thirteen colonies, from their origin to that period |volume=1 |location=London |year=1788 |page=365 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31175035539777&view=1up&seq=403&skin=2021 }}</ref>}}

An [[Plural form of words ending in -us|analogical Latin-type plural]] "cauci" is occasionally used.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ncsl.org/blog/2013/10/17/cauci.aspx |title=Cauci? > National Conference of State Legislatures |website=www.ncsl.org |access-date=2016-02-26 |archive-date=6 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006020819/https://www.ncsl.org/blog/2013/10/17/cauci.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==In the United States==

[[Image:2008 Wash State Democratic Caucus 15.jpg|thumb|right|Precincts from Washington State's 46th Legislative District caucus in a school lunchroom (2008)]]
In United States politics and government, ''caucus'' has several related but distinct meanings. Members of a [[political party]] or subgroup may meet to co-ordinate members' actions, choose group policy, or nominate candidates for various offices.

===Caucuses to select election candidates===
{{further|Iowa caucuses|Texas caucuses|Nevada caucuses|Colorado Caucus}}
{{See also|United States presidential primary|United States presidential nominating convention}}
There is no provision for the role of political parties in the [[United States Constitution]]. In the first two presidential elections, the [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]] handled nominations and elections in 1789 and 1792 which selected [[George Washington]]. After that, Congressional party or a state legislature party caucus selected the party's presidential candidates. Nationally, these caucuses were replaced by the party convention starting in 1832 following the lead of the [[Anti-Masonic Party]] 1831 convention.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Shafer|first1=Byron E|title=Bifurcated Politics: Evolution and Reform in the National Party Convention|date=1988|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=0674072561|page=[https://archive.org/details/bifurcatedpoliti00shaf/page/11 11]|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HAQ_cWsAW-cC&q=Emergence+of+the+Presidential+Nominating+Convention%2C+1789%E2%80%931832&pg=PA11|access-date=February 1, 2016|chapter=Emergence of the Presidential The Nomination and the Convention|url=https://archive.org/details/bifurcatedpoliti00shaf/page/11}}</ref>

The term ''caucus'' is frequently used to discuss the procedures used by some states to select [[presidential nominee]]s such as the [[Iowa caucuses]], the first of the modern [[Partisan primary|primary]] [[United States presidential election|presidential election cycle]], and the [[Texas caucuses]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/01/23/heres-how-the-iowa-caucuses-work/ |title=Iowa caucuses: Here's how the voting works |last=Weigel |first=David |date=2016-01-23 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |access-date=2016-02-26 }}</ref> Since 1980 such caucuses have become, in the aggregate, an important component of the nomination process.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZC2mB4e_TCIC |title=Why Iowa?: How Caucuses and Sequential Elections Improve the Presidential Nominating Process |last1=Redlawsk |first1=David P. |last2=Tolbert |first2=Caroline J. |last3=Donovan |first3=Todd |author-link2=Caroline Tolbert |date=2011 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226706962 |language=en }}</ref>

===Congressional caucuses===
{{main|Congressional caucus}}
Another meaning is a sub grouping 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 that are multi-[[Partisan (political)|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 bi-partisan 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 faction]]s (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.

==In Commonwealth nations==
===Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa===
The term is also used in certain [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] nations, including [[Australia]], [[Canada]], [[New Zealand]] and [[South Africa]]. When used in these countries, "caucus" is more usually a collective term for all members of a party sitting in Parliament, otherwise called a [[parliamentary group]], rather than a word for a regular meeting of these [[Member of Parliament|members of Parliament]]. Thus, the Australian Federal Parliamentary Labor Party is commonly called "the [[Australian Labor Party Caucus|Labor Caucus]]".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://australianpolitics.com/2001/05/09/establishment-of-federal-labor-caucus.html |title=The Establishment Of The Federal Labor Caucus |website=australianpolitics.com |access-date=2016-02-26 }}</ref>

The word was used in New Zealand from at least the 1890s, when organized political parties began to emerge: the largest of them, the [[New Zealand Liberal Party|Liberal Party]], used it to refer to its parliamentary members.<ref>{{cite news| title=The Liberal Caucus |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TS18930627.2.42 |newspaper=The Star |issue=4681 |page=3 |date=27 June 1893 |access-date=23 April 2017}}</ref>

In New Zealand, the term is now used by all political parties,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/about-parliament/how-parliament-works/ppnz/00HOOOCPPNZ_71/chapter-7-parties-and-government |title=Chapter 7 Parties and Government |website=www.parliament.nz |publisher=New Zealand Parliament |language=en-NZ |access-date=2016-02-26 |archive-date=4 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604152559/http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/about-parliament/how-parliament-works/ppnz/00HOOOCPPNZ_71/chapter-7-parties-and-government |url-status=dead }}</ref> but in Australia, it continues to be used only by the [[Australian Labor Party|Labor Party]]. For the Australian [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]], [[National Party of Australia|National]] and [[Australian Greens|Green]] parties, the usual equivalent term is "party room". In [[South Africa]] all parties use the term "caucus".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.anc.org.za/caucus/show.php?ID=1963 |title=The ANC Parliamentary Caucus |website=www.anc.org.za |publisher=Parliament of the Republic of South Africa |access-date=2016-02-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309210340/http://www.anc.org.za/caucus/show.php?ID=1963 |archive-date=2016-03-09 }}</ref> In Canada, "caucus" refers to all members of a particular party in Parliament, including senators, or a [[province|provincial]] legislature.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/parliament-101-what-s-a-caucus-anyway-1.2515858 |title=What's a caucus anyway? 3 things to know |website=www.cbc.ca |access-date=2016-02-26 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lop.parl.gc.ca/About/Parliament/WeekInHouse/index-e.asp |title=Parliament of Canada – A Week in the House of Commons |website=www.lop.parl.gc.ca |access-date=2016-02-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160225211158/http://www.lop.parl.gc.ca/About/Parliament/WeekInHouse/index-e.asp |archive-date=2016-02-25 |url-status=dead }}</ref> These members elect among themselves a [[caucus chair]] who presides over their meetings. This person is an important figure when the party is in [[parliamentary opposition|opposition]], and is an important link between [[Cabinet (government)|cabinet]] and the [[backbencher|backbench]] when the party is in [[government]].

In such contexts, a party caucus can be quite powerful, as it can elect or dismiss the party's parliamentary leader. The caucus system is a departure from the [[Westminster system|Westminster tradition]] in giving members of the upper house a say in the election of the party leader, who may become head of government. 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]] and the [[New Zealand Labour Party]].

===United Kingdom===

====Historic usage====
[[File:Francis Schnadhorst cartoon 1886.jpg|thumb|"Farewell to the Caucus": 1886 cartoon of [[Francis Schnadhorst]], Secretary of the UK [[National Liberal Federation]], leaving [[Birmingham]] for London following the [[Joseph Chamberlain#Liberal split|split in the party]] over [[Government of Ireland Bill 1886|Irish Home Rule]]. His luggage includes a scroll marked "Caucus", several string puppets, and a box of "wire pulling machinery", all in allusion to his reputation as a backstage political manager.]]
The word "caucus" had a wide currency in the United Kingdom in the late 19th century, meaning a highly structured system of management and control within a political party, equivalent to a "[[Political machine|party machine]]" in the United States. It was used with specific reference to the structure of the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]]. Originally a pejorative term, used by detractors of the system with overtones of corrupt American practices, the name was soon adopted by the Liberals themselves.

The system had originated at a local level in [[Birmingham]] in preparation for the [[1868 United Kingdom general election|1868 general election]], when, under the [[Reform Act 1867|1867 Reform Act]], the city had been allocated three [[Electoral district|parliamentary seats]], but each elector had only two votes. In order to spread votes evenly, the secretary of the Birmingham Liberal Association, [[William Harris (Birmingham Liberal)|William Harris]] (later dubbed the "father of the Caucus") devised a four-tier organizational structure (of [[electoral ward|ward]] committees, general committee, executive committee, and management committee) through which Liberal voters in different wards could be instructed in the precise combinations in which to cast their votes.<ref>{{cite book |first=J. L. |last=Garvin |author-link=James Louis Garvin |title=The Life of Joseph Chamberlain |place=London |publisher=Macmillan |volume=1 |year=1932 |pages=254–55 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Asa |last=Briggs |author-link=Asa Briggs |chapter=Birmingham: the making of a Civic Gospel |title=Victorian Cities |edition=3rd |publisher=University of California Press |place=Berkeley |year=1993 |pages=184–240 (190–91) }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Ian |last=Cawood |title=Birmingham, the 'Caucus' and the 1868 general election |journal=Journal of Liberal History |volume=105 |date=2019–2020 |pages=30–36 }}</ref> In 1877 the newly formed [[National Liberal Federation]] was given a similar structure, on the initiative of [[Joseph Chamberlain]], and again worked out in detail by Harris.<ref>Garvin 1932, pp. 261–62.</ref>

Shortly afterwards the term "caucus" was applied to this system by ''[[The Times]]'' newspaper, which referred to "the 'caucus' with all its evils", and by the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] prime minister, [[Benjamin Disraeli]].<ref>{{cite news |title=[Leading article] |newspaper=The Times |date=12 June 1877 |issue=28966 |page=9 |quote=There is to be a sort of Liberal Parliament organized, which, in American language, seems intended to act as a great Liberal 'Caucus'. }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=J. |last=Chamberlain |author-link=Joseph Chamberlain |title=A new political organization |journal=Fortnightly Review |series=n.s. |volume=22 |issue=127 |date=1 July 1877 |pages=126–34 (134) |quote=... what the ''Times'' calls the new Liberal Caucus ... }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=[Leading article] |newspaper=The Times |date=31 July 1878 |page=10 |quote=We may say, and say truly, that the policy of the politicians of the Midland capital will bring upon us the 'caucus' with all its evils, but we cannot hope to checkmate it by giving it a bad name. The apologists of the system will tell us that the 'caucus' is a product of the peculiar conditions of life in America, which need not be apprehended in a society of totally different circumstances. }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=J. |last=Chamberlain |author-link=Joseph Chamberlain |title=Political organization [letter] |newspaper=The Times |date=1 August 1878 |page=8 |quote=I observe that you, in common with the Prime Minister, have adopted the word 'caucus' to designate our organization. }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=J. |last=Chamberlain |author-link=Joseph Chamberlain |title=The Caucus |journal=Fortnightly Review |series=n.s. |volume=24 |issue=143 |date=1 November 1878 |pages=721–41 (721) |quote=... the word ['caucus'] chosen by the Prime Minister to describe [the Liberals'] system, and eagerly caught up by lesser critics ... conveys the idea of secrecy and irresponsibility ... }}</ref> In 1880 [[Queen Victoria]], following a meeting with Disraeli, wrote disapprovingly in a private note of "that American system called caucus".<ref>{{cite book |first=George Earle |last=Buckle |title=The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield |location=London |publisher=John Murray |volume=6 |year=1920 |page=535 |quote=That the Liberals had worked on that American system called caucus, originated by the great Radical, Mr Chamberlain. }}</ref> The Liberal Caucus was also vilified by [[Socialism|socialists]] and [[Trade unions in the United Kingdom|trade unionists]], who (prior to the establishment of the [[Independent Labour Party]]) sought a route to parliamentary representation through the Liberal Party via the [[Labour Representation League]] and the [[Labour Electoral Association]], but found their way barred by the party's management structures.<ref>{{cite book |first=James |last=Owen |title=Labour and the Caucus: working-class radicalism and organised Liberalism in England, 1868–1888 |place=Liverpool |publisher=Liverpool University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-8463-1944-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QT5nDAAAQBAJ }}</ref>

[[Moisey Ostrogorsky]] devoted some nine chapters of his ''Democracy and the Organization of Political Parties'' (1902) to discussion of the development and operation of the "Caucus" in this sense.<ref>{{cite book |first=M. |last=Ostrogorski |author-link=Moisey Ostrogorsky |title=Democracy and the Organization of Political Parties |translator-first=Frederick |translator-last=Clarke |place=London |publisher=Macmillan |year=1902 |volume=1 |pages=161–249, 329–441, 502–529, 580–627 |url=https://archive.org/stream/democracyandtheo031734mbp#page/n223/mode/2up }}</ref>

====Contemporary usage====
The word "caucus" is only occasionally encountered in contemporary politics in the British Isles. In contrast to other [[Anglosphere]] nations, it is never used for all members of a party in Parliament: the usual term for that concept, both in the UK and [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], is "[[Parliamentary group|parliamentary party]]".

When the term is used, it generally refers to a subgroup, [[political faction|faction]] or [[pressure group]] within a political party. For example, in 2019 the [[One Nation Conservatives (caucus)|One Nation Conservatives]] and [[Blue Collar Conservativism|Blue Collar Conservatives]] were established as factions within the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], both being described as "caucuses".<ref>{{cite tweet |user=RichardHRBenyon |author-link=Richard Benyon |number=1130522197347508224 |date=20 May 2019 |title=So pleased and proud to be at a meeting of the One Nation Conservative Caucus. A moderate centre-ground pragmatic Conservatism that is about values that have never been more needed |access-date=9 May 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite tweet |user=OneNationCons |number= 1169312077225373696 |date=4 September 2019 |title=🚨 This evening we met as a Caucus and have collectively agreed that the events of the last few days has shown a purge is taking place of moderate colleagues in the Parliamentary Party. This cannot, and is not right! 🚨 |access-date=9 May 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Patrick |last=Maguire |title=How the Blue Collar Conservatives could turn on Boris Johnson |work=[[New Statesman]] |date=28 February 2020 |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2020/02/how-blue-collar-conservatives-could-turn-boris-johnson |access-date=9 May 2020 |quote=As one of its number points out, the Blue Collar group of Conservative MPs is bigger than almost any other caucus in the parliamentary party, including the One Nation bloc of self-styled moderates.}}</ref>

== In organizations ==
In [[Convention (meeting)|conventions]], where the membership from different parts of the organization may gather, each separate group within the organization may meet prior to the convention as a caucus.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised |last=Robert|first=Henry M.|publisher=Da Capo Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0-306-82020-5|location=Philadelphia, PA |pages=605–6|edition=11th|display-authors=etal|title-link=Robert's Rules of Order}}</ref> Each caucus may decide how the group would vote on various issues that may come up at the convention.<ref name=":0" /> Unless the votes are made binding, however, each delegate is still free to vote in any fashion.<ref name=":0" />

==In alternative dispute resolution==
The term ''caucus'' is also used in [[mediation]], [[facilitator|facilitation]] and other forms of [[alternative dispute resolution]] to describe circumstances wherein, 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 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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/od/adr/1stmed.htm |title=ADR – How to Get Through Your First Mediation and What You Expect |website=www.cdc.gov |access-date=2016-02-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160319025231/http://www.cdc.gov/od/adr/1stmed.htm |archive-date=2016-03-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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.<ref>Further details in Julie MacFarlane, ''Dispute Resolution: Readings and Case Studies'', 2003:356–62, excerpts from C. Moore, ''The Mediation Process'', 2nd ed. 1996:319-26</ref>

==See also== 

* [[Parliamentary group]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|caucus race}}
{{Wiktionary|caucus}}
{{NIE Poster|year=1905|Caucus}}
{{commonscatinline|Caucus}}
*[http://www.COCaucus.org COCaucus.org]
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Caucus |short=x}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Types of organization]]
[[Category:Political terminology]]