Parliamentary group
Part of the Politics series |
Party politics |
---|
Politics portal |
Legislature |
---|
Chambers |
Parliament |
Parliamentary procedure |
Types |
|
Legislatures by country |
This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2023) |
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.
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 "
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
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
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
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
References
- ^ "What's a caucus anyway? 3 things to know". Cbc.ca. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ^ "Prawo PE do informacji o KPO. Z Polaków tylko europosłowie PiS przeciw". Rp.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 6 June 2021.
- ^ "Opposition Alliance Rallies In Yerevan Ahead Of Early Poll". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 18 June 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
- ^ "Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation Art. 154". Archived from the original on 2021-07-06. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
- ^ a b "Parliamentary Friendship Groups (non-country)". Aph.gov.au. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ^ a b "Congress of the Republic of Peru". Archived from the original on 2015-09-19. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
- ^ "Socialist Republic of Viet Nam". Itamaraty.gov.br. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ^ a b "German Bundestag - General information on the parliamentary friendship groups". Archived from the original on 2015-03-20. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
- ^ "State Great Hural | INTER-PARLIAMENTARY FRIENDSHIP GROUPS". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
- ^ "Moldova, Romania and the Czech Republic gathered in an inter-parliame…". Archived from the original on 9 March 2015.
- ^ a b "The Knesset Foreign Affairs Department". Archived from the original on 2013-10-16. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
- ^ a b "STRUCTURE OF THE PARLIAMENT OF ROMANIA 2004-2008". Cdep.ro. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ^ "Turkey to support Macedonia on international scene". Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ^ a b "Vietnamese, Brazilian legislatures enhance cooperation". En.vietnamplus.vn. 24 November 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b "National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia - Parliamentary friendship groups". Parlament.gov.rs. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ^ a b c "New Zealand Parliament - Parliamentary Friendship Groups". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
- ^ a b "Armenia-Brazil parliamentary friendship group to be recovered". News.am. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ^ "Friendship Groups - Interparliamentary Activities - Diplomacy - Parliament of Canada". www.parl.ca. Retrieved 2021-10-08.
- ^ "List of Parliamentarians\Friendship Groups". Na.gov.la. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ^ "National Assembly of Pakistan". Na.gov.pk. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ^ "National Assembly - Parliamentary friendship groups". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
- ^ "National Assembly of The Republic of Korea". korea.assembly.go.kr. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
- ^ a b "Friends of Switzerland Caucus". Eda.admin.ch. Retrieved 19 December 2017.