C: Clode's Right Political Dictionary
“Cabinet Confidentiality” This is the code of honour that binds all Cabinet Ministers to silence about any matter which has been discussed in Cabinet. All Cabinet Meetings are conducted under the “in-committee rule”, even when Cabinet Members hear testimony from experts in a closed forum. If Cabinet approves a proposal, then no Cabinet Minister may publicly speak about it after the meeting, even if they were the leading opponent against the proposal or even where the proposal is adverse to their own interests. This strict confidentiality allows Ministers to speak freely inside Cabinet in any debate. Cabinet Confidentiality extends to any document which is submitted for Cabinet to consider. Such documents are classified as having restricted access; only being circulated to Cabinet Ministers, their advisers and some senior public servants. Documents classified as “Cabinet-in-confidence” usually retain their classified status for several decades, before independent researchers are allowed to view them. (See “In-Committee”; “Classified”)
“The Call” The call is the act of trying to speak in a house of parliament. When parliamentarians wish to speak, they indicate their desire to speak to the Speaker of the Chamber (usually by rising in their place). This act is known as "seeking the call". The Speaker then has discretion over who will be called upon to speak, but is generally obliged to recognise either whoever rose first from their seat, or whichever parliamentarian holds the most senior position.
“Campaign director” This is the person responsible for the overall organisation of the party’s campaign. In a general election, the party will usually have a director for each electorate campaign and a National Campaign Director who coordinates the messages and campaign strategies of the party country-wide. Each campaign director is in a position of authority over the candidate who they are directing, because a candidate can sometimes be too emotionally involved in events to make the most rational decision. Often a director will have access to more information than the candidate has (for instance polling results are often withheld from the candidate by the director, to ensure that their performance or morale is not upset by changes in polling). Like a theatre operation, the “director” manages the backstage crew, organises equipment and resources, makes adjustments to the script; whereas the candidate is the performer who confines their activities to direct interaction with the audience.
“Campaign Headquarters” This is the office building (or floor) chosen by the campaign committee as the base for their meetings. However the headquarters is also usually used for other campaign activities, including the warehousing of campaign literature; working bees by volunteers (such as addressing campaign mail); operation of telephone polling and canvassing by volunteers; co-ordination of meetings, events and interest group activities; training seminars for party members; fundraising activities; orchestration of voter enrolments, etcetera. The headquarters is also the official address for any activities regulated by law, for which the party need to register a party address or corporate address.
“Candidate” This is simply a person selected by the Party to stand for an election. In some electoral systems, there are several politicians sitting in each electorate, hence there will be several candidates from the one party running for that seat.
“Caucus” This term derives from the American Indian word “kaw-kaw-was” meaning to confer. This word has two common applications. Usually a “caucus” is a meeting of party members, at which the attendees agree to all be honourably bound by the majority decisions of the group, and will not publicly criticise those decisions, regardless of their individual beliefs. This is a common system used by the parliamentary representatives of a party, to ensure that their voting behaviour in the parliament is unified and coordinated. Such a system makes maximum use of the combined strength of the group, however it also has the detriment of quashing dissenting opinion. (See “Conscience Vote” – the opposite concept) The word is used as both a noun and a verb – thus people can “caucus within a caucus”. The second use of the word arises in American Presidential elections, where there is a “layered” caucus system. This caucus system involves local party activists meeting at the precinct level, to select delegates to county meetings, who in turn select delegates to state meetings. State-level conventions select delegates to their party’s national nominating convention. The purpose of this layered caucus system is to indicate, through delegate choice, which presidential candidate is preferred by each state party’s members. It is argued that a layered system democratizes presidential nominations, since the choice of candidate is determined at the precinct level, at the beginning of the process. (See “Plebisite” – the opposite concept)
“CHQ” This is a common abbreviated reference to the “Campaign Headquarters.”
“Chamber” A “Chamber” is the meeting room of a house of parliament, where parliamentarians debate legislation and vote. Where there is an upper and lower house, there are said to be two chambers. (See “Unicameral” and “Bicameral”)
“Chatham House Rule” The aim of this rule is to facilitate free speech at a meeting by making the discussions confidential. The rule is often invoked by agreeing with a guest speaker that it would be conducive to free discussion that a portion of a meeting should be kept private. Participants are free to use the information or opinions disclosed to them, subject to two conditions: first no-one in attendance can disclose the identity or the affiliation of the speaker, nor that of any other participant at that meeting; second, it may not be divulged that the information was received at that meeting. Accordingly, all ideas discussed while the rule applies can be subsequently revealed elsewhere, provided that the source of the ideas is not revealed. By contrast, when a meeting moves “into committee”, the decision which results from the discussion can be minuted, although all other discussions prior to the decision are kept secret. The Chatham House Rule was devised by the Royal Institute of International Affairs, an organisation which promotes research and discussion on international affairs which is based in “Chatham House” in London. The Chatham House building was named after William Pitt the Elder, Earl of Chatham (Prime Minister from 1766-8). (See “In Committee”)
“Classified” Government documents are sometimes designated as “classified”, indicating that access to that information is restricted to authorised persons only, for reasons of national security, or Cabinet confidentiality, or constituent privacy. (See “Cabinet Confidentiality”)
“Coalition” This is the joining together of two or more political parties to form a united government or a united opposition. Coalition arrangements are common where elections are conducted using proportional representation, or where there are different parties in different regions of a country. For example a conservative coalition may be comprised of an urban party and a rural party. In many Asian countries, parties have formed around ethnicities (like race or religion), requiring coalitions between parties of Chinese ethnicity, Indian ethnicity, and indigenous ethnicity. In times of war, sometimes major opposing parties will form a coalition cabinet, to concentrate political effort on the prosecution of war. The term “coalition” was initially used to describe European alliances of states, formed for military defence or aggression.
“Coattails Effect” Coattails in the literal sense are the rear panels (“tails”) of a gentleman’s frock coat. In politics, the “coattails effect” occurs where a popular and prominent party candidate increases the chances for victory of other candidates of the same party, due to his popularity. The prominent candidate is thus said to carry colleagues to victory “on his coattails.”
“Collectivism” This umbrella term captures the core tenet of left-wing ideologies: the belief that the interests of a group should prevail over that of an individual. This ideology requires that public laws be based upon utilitarianism assessments by fallible politicians, an approach that too readily shrinks the scope for individual rights.
“Congress/ Congressman” Congress refers to both houses of parliament in a bicameral system. Both members of the upper and lower house are referred to as “Congressmen.” That in the United States Congress, a Senator can also be called a “Congressman”, as can a Member of the House of Representatives.
“Conscience Vote” This is a vote on an issue where party members agree that they will allow one another to vote different ways, according to each one’s conscience. On such occasions as a conscience vote, the party tolerates dissent by minorities in its ranks from the mainstream view. On other occasions, a member of a party may break ranks with a caucus to which they belong, and vote independently regardless of what their political party tells them to do. This is also described as a “conscience vote”, although it is less common and can lead to expulsion from some parties. There are seldom any countries where a parliamentarian is compelled by constitutional law to vote with their party colleagues, hence any parliamentary vote can potentially produce a conscience vote by some individuals. (See “Caucus” – the opposite situation where a party votes in a unified bloc.)
“Constituent” / “Constituency” This term refers to members of the public who are eligible to vote and who live within the electorate of a particular politician. This term covers both people who voted for the politician, those who voted against and those who failed to vote. It is preferable to describe voters as constituents than “electors”, since not all constituents elect the sitting politician. The word “constituency” is also used to describe the electorate which covers all eligible voters living within it. Sometimes the term “constituency” is used more loosely by interest groups, for instance the leader of an manufacturing association may sometimes refer to all manufacturers as their “constituency” – regardless of whether they all actually belong to that manufacturing association.
“Constitution” This is the set of rules by which a country or state or party is run.
“Contract with America” The “Contract with America” was a legislative manifesto, signed by 367 Republican Party candidates for the United States Congress in advance of the November 1994 election. The contract identified 10 bills that the Republicans vowed to debate and bring to a vote in the House of Representatives within the first 100 days of the legislative session beginning in January 1995. They met their goal. (Click here to read the Contract with America and its history.)
“Convention Bounce” This term originates from the Republican Party and Democrat Party Conventions which select the opposing candidates for United States Presidential elections. In the opinion polls, there is usually an increase in each respective candidate’s popularity, in the days immediately following their nomination for office by their respective party convention. Parties aim to maximise the “bounce” and make the bounce last at long as possible.
“Cooption” An individual is “co-opted” to a party committee, if they are invited to join the committee by its other members. A coopted member is not elected and therefore has no mandate, whereas the other members of a party committee can claim a mandate from the members who elected them. Cooption is sometimes also used on government bodies and agency boards. A coopted member may bring special skills which other committee members lack, or may represent an additional constituency or demographic group which the committee wishes to appeal to.
“Crossbench” The crossbenches are seats in parliament for members who do not belong to either the government or the opposition. Thus the crossbench is a part of the parliamentary chamber where minor party politicians and/or independent politicians sit. Generally this area is in the part of the chamber furthest from the speaker, in the middle of the opposition and government sides. If a minor party enters into a Coalition arrangement with the government or with the official opposition, then it is no longer said to be on the “crossbenches”, even if its politicians are occupying the same seats.
“Crossing the Floor” This occurs when a member of parliament goes to the other side of the chamber and votes with an opposing party In parliament, members stand on opposite sides of the chamber to vote (See “Divisions”). This physical means of voting leads to the expression of "crossing the floor", when a politician votes against the majority of their party colleagues. Crossing the floor can have the consequence of expulsion in some parties. (See “Conscience Vote” and “Caucus”)