caucus

[jman724]

Ok, here is the deal.  I don't really understand how a caucus actually works.  I simply haven't talked to anyone in person who really knew, i just know the very basics.  So, can someone explain this to me?  Also, what are the advantages of a caucus over a primary?  I know most states have moved to primaries, but some are still holding out and i think in 2000 or 2004 a couple states actually switched to caucus. 

[Jacobtm]

It's a bit complicated:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_caucus

[J. J.]

As a practical matter, it should be noted tha caucuses reward people with strong organizations; the can be influenced by just a few people.

[muon2]

A caucus is a very traditional method of selecting a candidate or slate of candidates for a party. The basic idea is that a group of people interested in the activities in a party meet at a place and time to select people to represent their party in the general election.

In IL it's still used to select most township candidates. In this case there is a date and time set by the state. Each party organization at the township level that wishes to participate places a public notice in the press. The party organization for each township set the rules and verifies the qualifications of attendees (within limits set by the state). Usually the only restrictions are that the person must be a resident of the township, a registered voter, and did not participate in another parties caucus or primary in the previous year. Once the meeting is established, there is selection of a chair, nominations, speeches, and then a vote by the caucus attendees. The winning candidates appear on the general election ballot.

I was in Germany for local elections four years ago, and it seemed like their lists of candidates were selected by something like a caucus of party members from the local jurisdiction. There was no primary.

[minionofmidas]

I was in Germany for local elections four years ago, and it seemed like their lists of candidates were selected by something like a caucus of party members from the local jurisdiction. There was no primary.

Can't speak for other states of Germany, but in Hesse that's true only of very small parties and the Greens. Other parties will have a convention, with every ward group sending two delegates or three. (The situation for state and federal lists is similar, although there'll be more party members per delegate, and the Greens use delegates as well.) But yeah, at Green Party local election list selection, even for a city as big as Frankfurt, any party member can just walk into the meeting and vote.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The Caucus was the name given to Joe Chamberlain's machine in Brum.

[muon2]

I was in Germany for local elections four years ago, and it seemed like their lists of candidates were selected by something like a caucus of party members from the local jurisdiction. There was no primary.

Can't speak for other states of Germany, but in Hesse that's true only of very small parties and the Greens. Other parties will have a convention, with every ward group sending two delegates or three. (The situation for state and federal lists is similar, although there'll be more party members per delegate, and the Greens use delegates as well.) But yeah, at Green Party local election list selection, even for a city as big as Frankfurt, any party member can just walk into the meeting and vote.

It probably was a convention then. To an outsider, the functioning of a caucus and a convention are very similar. Only a careful observer would note that the convention voters are selected delegates. As a non-native, I hope you'll forgive my probable error. :S

[jimrtex]

I was in Germany for local elections four years ago, and it seemed like their lists of candidates were selected by something like a caucus of party members from the local jurisdiction. There was no primary.

Can't speak for other states of Germany, but in Hesse that's true only of very small parties and the Greens. Other parties will have a convention, with every ward group sending two delegates or three. (The situation for state and federal lists is similar, although there'll be more party members per delegate, and the Greens use delegates as well.) But yeah, at Green Party local election list selection, even for a city as big as Frankfurt, any party member can just walk into the meeting and vote.

'convention' and 'caucus' are two names for the same process when used to nominate candidates.  In Texas, they are referred to as "precinct conventions", while in Iowa, they are referred to as "precinct caucuses".  In both states, they elect delegates to "county conventions" which in turn elect delegates to state conventions, which in turn elect delegates to national conventions.

In Texas, a party is recognized for the purpose of nominating candidates if they had a statewide candidate that received 5% of the vote in the previous election.  The Libertarian Party has usually maintained its qualification because the Democratic Party doesn't field candidates for all statewide judgeships (the Texas Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals).

Parties with greater than 20% of the vote in the last gubernatorial race must use primaries to nominate candidates.  Smaller parties (eg the Libertarian Party and maybe the Bell-lead Democrats) have the choice of using conventions or primaries to nominate.

Nonetheless, parties that have primaries also hold conventions.  The precinct conventions are held on the night of the primary, after the polls have closed.  These choose delegates to the county convention, which is held a few weeks later, and so on.  Since the primaries choose the candidates, the conventions mostly serve to determine the platform, and to help identify campaign activists, potential candidates, etc. 

The Libertarian Party uses the convention method to nominate candidates.  Since they usually don't have enough people to hold precinct conventions, they have a party rule that says anyone who could have attended a precinct convention can be a delegate to the county convention.  To be eligible, you simply have to be a voter who didn't vote in another party's primary.

In presidential-election years, the state convention chooses delegates to the national conventions.  The rules of the Democratic Party in Texas dictate that the delegates be apportioned on the basis of the primary.

In Iowa, there is no presidential primary, so the precinct caucuses have been modified to serve as an equivalent process, especially for the Democrats.  Each voter who attends the precinct caucus indicates a presidential preference, and these are tallied, in effect producing a primary-like result.  The main difference is that at a caucus it takes a couple of hours to vote, and voting is public.

Delegates to the county convention are apportioned to the various factions on the basis of this tally.  After the initially tally is made, supporters of each presidential candidate gather (caucus) and select their delegates to the county convention.  I believe these delegates are required to support their candidate, at least initially at the county conventions.  There is also a process where voters can switch caucuses in case theirs doesn't have enough support to choose a delegate, or if a caucus doesn't have enough support to receive the next whole number of delegates, some of their members can switch so that another candidate can receive a delegate.

[minionofmidas]

I was in Germany for local elections four years ago, and it seemed like their lists of candidates were selected by something like a caucus of party members from the local jurisdiction. There was no primary.

Can't speak for other states of Germany, but in Hesse that's true only of very small parties and the Greens. Other parties will have a convention, with every ward group sending two delegates or three. (The situation for state and federal lists is similar, although there'll be more party members per delegate, and the Greens use delegates as well.) But yeah, at Green Party local election list selection, even for a city as big as Frankfurt, any party member can just walk into the meeting and vote.

It probably was a convention then. To an outsider, the functioning of a caucus and a convention are very similar. Only a careful observer would note that the convention voters are selected delegates. As a non-native, I hope you'll forgive my probable error. :S

Nah, you may well be right. I know nothing about how things are done in Bavarian small towns.