Caucus

In the United States, a Caucus is a meeting of local members of a political party or subgroup to nominate candidates, plan policy, etc, in the Congress of the United States or other similar representative organs of government.

Caucus comes from the Algonquin word for "counsel," cau´-cau-as´u. It was probably introduced into American political usage through the Democratic Party machine in New York known as Tammany Hall, which liked to use Native American terms.

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In Australia, the word Caucus is used by the Australian Labor Party to describe the Labor members of the Parliament of Australia and of the state and territory legislatures. Thus, the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party is commonly called "the Labor Caucus," and its meetings as "Caucus meetings." The Caucus elects the Party's parliamentary leader and, when Labior is in government, also elects the members of the ministry.

The word was introduced to Australia by King O'Malley, an American-born Labor member of the first federal Parliament in 1901.

The non-Labor parties do not use the word Caucus. The Liberal Party of Australia, for example, always calls its parliamentary members the Parliamentary Liberal Party.