Parliamentary group

Last updated

A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller political parties, who are not numerous enough to form parliamentary groups in their own names, to join with other parties or independent politicians in order to benefit from rights or privileges that are only accorded to formally recognized groups. An electoral alliance, where political parties associate only for elections, is similar to a parliamentary group. A technical group is similar to a parliamentary group but with members of differing ideologies. In contrast, a political faction is a subgroup within a political party and a coalition forms only after elections.

Contents

Parliamentary groups may elect a parliamentary leader; such leaders are often important political players. Parliamentary groups in some cases use party discipline to control the votes of their members.

International terms

Parliamentary groups correspond to "caucuses" in the United States Congress and the Parliament of Canada. [1] A parliamentary group is sometimes called the parliamentary wing of a party, as distinct from its organizational wing. Equivalent terms are used in different countries, including: Argentina (bloque and interbloque), Australia (party room); Austria (Klub); Belgium (fractie/fraction/Fraktion); Brazil and Portugal ("grupo parlamentar" or, informally, "bancadas"); Germany (Fraktion); Italy (gruppo), Finland (eduskuntaryhmä/riksdagsgrupp); the Netherlands (fractie); Poland (klub), [2] Switzerland (fraction/Fraktion/frazione); Romania (grup parlamentar); and Russia (фракция/fraktsiya), Spain ('grupo parlamentario'), and Ukraine (фракція/fraktsiya).

Relationship with party

Generally, parliamentary groups have some independence from the wider party organisations. It is often thought improper for elected MPs to take instructions solely from non-elected party officials or from the small subset of the electorate represented by party members. In any case, the exigencies of government, the need to cooperate with other members of the legislature and the desire to retain the support of the electorate as a whole often preclude strict adherence to the wider party's wishes. The exact relationship between the parliamentary party and the party varies between countries, and also from party to party. For example, in some parties, the parliamentary and organisational leadership will be held by the same person or people, whether ex officio or not; other parties maintain a sharp distinction between the two offices. Nevertheless, in almost all cases, the parliamentary leader is the public face of the party, and wields considerable influence within the organisational wing, whether or not they hold any official position there.

Leadership

A parliamentary group is typically led by a parliamentary group leader or chairperson, though some parliamentary groups have two or more co-leaders. If the parliamentary group is represented in the legislature, the leader is almost always chosen from among the sitting members; if the leader does not yet have a seat in the legislature, a sitting member of the group may be expected to resign to make way for him or her. If the party is not represented in the legislature for the time being, the leader will often be put forward at a general election as the party's candidate for their most winnable seat. In some parties, the leader is elected solely by the members of the parliamentary group; in others, some or all members of the wider party participate in the election. Parliamentary groups often have one or more whips, whose role is to support the leadership by enforcing party discipline.

Examples

Armenia

In Armenia, political parties often form parliamentary groups before running in elections. Prior to the 2021 Armenian parliamentary elections, four different parliamentary groups were formed. [3] A parliamentary group must pass the 7% electoral threshold in order to gain representation in the National Assembly.

Czech Republic

Higher electoral thresholds for parliamentary groups discourages the formation of parliamentary groups running in elections.

European Union

The parliamentary groups of the European Parliament must consist of no less than 25 MEPs from seven different EU member states. No party discipline is required. Parliamentary groups gain financial support and can join committees.

Germany

Hungary

Hungarian mixed-member majoritarian representation rewards the formation of parliamentary groups, like United for Hungary.

Italy

Italian parallel voting system rewards the formation of parliamentary groups like Centre-right coalition and Centre-left coalition.

Switzerland

In the Swiss Federal Assembly, at least five members are required to form a parliamentary group. [4] The most important task is to delegate members to the commissions. The parliamentary groups are decisive in Swiss Federal Assembly and not the political parties, which are not mentioned in the parliamentary law.

United Kingdom

Conservative Party
Conservative Private Members' Committee (1922 Committee)
Labour Party
Parliamentary Labour Party

All-party parliamentary groups

In the United Kingdom Parliament there exist associations of MPs called "all-party parliamentary groups", which bring together members of different parliamentary groups who wish to involve themselves with a particular subject. This term is in a sense the opposite of the term 'parliamentary group', which designates a group that includes only members of the same party or electoral fusion.

Parliamentary Friendship Groups

One special kind of parliamentary groups are the Parliamentary Friendship Groups, [5] [6] [7] [8] also called Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Groups, [9] [10] [11] Friendship Parliamentary Groups, [12] [13] [14] or Parliamentary Group of Friendship [and Cooperation]. [15]

"Parliamentary Friendship" groups are groups of congresspeople/members of parliament who voluntarily organise themselves to promote parliamentary relations between their own Parliament and another country's (or even a region's group of countries') parliament(s), and, in a broader scope, to foster the bilateral relations between said countries. Parliamentary friendship groups play an important role in New Zealand's engagement in inter-parliamentary relations, with group members often called upon to participate and host meetings for visiting delegations from the other part, as well as often being invited by the other country's parliament to visit it. [16] [17]

Friendship Groups do not speak for the Government of their own country, or even for the whole of the Parliament/Congress to which they belong, as they are usually self-regulating and self-fulfilling. [17]

Parliamentary Friendship Groups are active in the national congresses/parliaments of countries such as Armenia, [18] Australia, [5] Brazil, [14] [18] Canada, [19] Germany, [8] Israel, [11] Laos, [20] New Zealand, [17] Pakistan, [21] Peru, [6] Romania, [12] Serbia, [16] Slovenia, [22] South Korea, [23] Switzerland, [24] and the United States, [24] among many others.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Armenia</span>

The politics of Armenia take place in the framework of the parliamentary representative democratic republic of Armenia, whereby the president of Armenia is the head of state and the prime minister of Armenia the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the president and the Government. Legislative power is vested in both the Government and Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Labor Party</span> Federal political party in Australia

The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also commonly known simply as Labor or the Labor Party, is the major centre-left political party in Australia and one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party has been in government since being elected at the 2022 federal election, and with political branches in each state and territory, they currently form government in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, and the Northern Territory. As of 2023, Tasmania is the only state or territory where Labor forms the opposition. It is the oldest continuous political party in Australian history, being established on 8 May 1901 at Parliament House, Melbourne, the meeting place of the first federal Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bundestag</span> Federal parliament of Germany

The Bundestag is the German federal parliament and the lower of two federal chambers, opposed to the upper chamber, the Bundesrat. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people, comparable to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom or the United States House of Representatives. The Bundestag was established by Title III of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 as one of the legislative bodies of Germany and thus it is the historical successor to the earlier Reichstag.

The executive, also referred to as the juditian or executive power, is that part of government which executes the law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knesset</span> Legislature of the State of Israel

The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel.

A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology or the will of their donors or constituents. Whips are the party's "enforcers". They work to ensure that their fellow political party legislators attend voting sessions and vote according to their party's official policy. Members who vote against party policy may "lose the whip", being effectively expelled from the party.

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Republican Party of Armenia</span> Political party in Armenia

The Republican Party of Armenia is a national-conservative political party in Armenia led by the third president of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan.

Official party status refers to the Westminster practice which is officially used in the Parliament of Canada and the provincial legislatures of recognizing parliamentary caucuses of political parties. In official documents, this is sometimes referred to as being a recognized party.

An indirect election or hierarchical voting, is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office, but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the oldest forms of elections and is used by many countries for heads of state, cabinets, heads of government, and/or upper houses. It is also used for some supranational legislatures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legislative Assembly of Ontario</span> Unicameral legislature of Ontario

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal assent by the lieutenant governor of Ontario to become law. Together, the Legislative Assembly and Lieutenant Governor make up the unicameral Legislature of Ontario. The assembly meets at the Ontario Legislative Building at Queen's Park in the provincial capital of Toronto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">People's National Assembly</span> Lower house of the Algerian Parliament

The People's National Assembly is the lower house of the Algerian Parliament. It is composed of 407 members directly elected by the population. Of the 407 seats, 8 are reserved for Algerians living abroad. Members of the People's National Assembly are directly elected through proportional representation in multiple-member districts and serve terms lasting five years at a time. The last election for this body was held on 12 June 2021. The minimum age for election to the Assembly is 28.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliament of Morocco</span> Bicameral legislature of Morocco

The Parliament of Morocco is the bicameral legislature of Morocco. It is located in Rabat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Assembly of Dominica</span> Legislature of Dominica

The House of Assembly is the legislature of Dominica. It is established by Chapter III of the Constitution of Dominica, and together with the President of Dominica constitutes Dominica's Parliament. The House is unicameral, and consists of twenty-one Representatives, nine senators, and the Attorney General as an ex officio member. The Speaker of the House becomes the thirty-second member if chosen from outside the membership of the House.

A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are their party's most senior member of parliament (MP) in most parliamentary democracies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Assembly (Azerbaijan)</span> Unicameral legislature of Azerbaijan

The National Assembly, also transliterated as Milli Mejlis, is the legislative branch of government in Azerbaijan. The unicameral National Assembly has 125 deputies: previously 100 members were elected for five-year terms in single-seat constituencies and 25 were members elected by proportional representation; as of the latest election, however, all 125 deputies are returned from single-member constituencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Parliament of Nepal</span> Bicameral legislature of Nepal since 2018

The Federal Parliament of Nepal is the bicameral federal and supreme legislature of Nepal established in 2018. It consists of the National Assembly and the House of Representatives as parallel houses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Assembly of Sudan</span> Lower house of Sudans legislature

The National Assembly is the lower house of the National Legislature of Sudan. The Legislature was unicameral until 2005. The upper house is the Council of States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Armenian parliamentary election</span>

Snap parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 9 December 2018, as none of the parties in the National Assembly were able to put forward and then elect a candidate for Prime Minister in the two-week period following the resignation of incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on 16 October. They were the first elections after the 2018 revolution and the country's first-ever snap elections.

Carin Visser is a South African politician. Since 2019 she has been serving as a permanent delegate to the National Council of Provinces. She is a member of the North West provincial delegation. She was a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa from 2017 to 2018 and a Member of the North West Provincial Legislature from 2018 to 2019. She was also a municipal councillor of the Tswaing Local Municipality. Visser served the provincial chairperson of the Democratic Alliance (DA) from 2015 to 2020.

References

  1. ↑ "What's a caucus anyway? 3 things to know". Cbc.ca. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  2. ↑ "Regulamin Sejmu". Sejm.gov.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  3. ↑ "Opposition Alliance Rallies In Yerevan Ahead Of Early Poll". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 18 June 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  4. ↑ "Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation Art. 154". Archived from the original on 2021-07-06. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
  5. 1 2 "Parliamentary Friendship Groups (non-country)". Aph.gov.au. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Congress of the Republic of Peru". Archived from the original on 2015-09-19. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  7. ↑ "Socialist Republic of Viet Nam". Itamaraty.gov.br. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  8. 1 2 "German Bundestag - General information on the parliamentary friendship groups". Archived from the original on 2015-03-20. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  9. ↑ "State Great Hural | INTER-PARLIAMENTARY FRIENDSHIP GROUPS". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  10. ↑ "Moldova, Romania and the Czech Republic gathered in an inter-parliame…". Archived from the original on 9 March 2015.
  11. 1 2 "The Knesset Foreign Affairs Department". Archived from the original on 2013-10-16. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  12. 1 2 "STRUCTURE OF THE PARLIAMENT OF ROMANIA 2004-2008". Cdep.ro. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  13. ↑ "Turkey to support Macedonia on international scene". Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  14. 1 2 "Vietnamese, Brazilian legislatures enhance cooperation". En.vietnamplus.vn. 24 November 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  15. ↑ "Parliamentary Group of Friendship and Cooperation Brazil – Ecuador will visit the country – Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana". Cancilleria.gob.ec. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  16. 1 2 "National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia - Parliamentary friendship groups". Parlament.gov.rs. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  17. 1 2 3 "New Zealand Parliament - Parliamentary Friendship Groups". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  18. 1 2 "Armenia-Brazil parliamentary friendship group to be recovered". News.am. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  19. ↑ "Friendship Groups - Interparliamentary Activities - Diplomacy - Parliament of Canada". www.parl.ca. Retrieved 2021-10-08.
  20. ↑ "List of Parliamentarians\Friendship Groups". Na.gov.la. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  21. ↑ "National Assembly of Pakistan". Na.gov.pk. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  22. ↑ "National Assembly - Parliamentary friendship groups". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  23. ↑ "National Assembly of The Republic of Korea". korea.assembly.go.kr. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  24. 1 2 "Friends of Switzerland Caucus". Eda.admin.ch. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.