Party discipline is the ability of a parliamentary group of a political party to get its members to support the policies of their party leadership. In liberal democracies, it usually refers to the control that party leaders have over its legislature. Party discipline is important for all systems of government that allow parties to hold political power because it determines the degree to which the governmental infrastructure will be affected by legitimate political processes.
The term has a somewhat different meaning in Marxist-Leninist political systems such as the People's Republic of China. In this case it refers to administrative sanctions such as fines or expulsion that the Communist Party can impose on its members for actions such as corruption or disagreeing with the party.
Breaking party discipline in actual parliamentary votes is called crossing the floor.
Other articles related to "party, party discipline":
... according to an official line set down by their political party ... elected members of a legislature who belong to a political party are usually required by that party to vote in accordance with the party line on significant legislation, on pain of ... Sometimes a particular party member known as the whip is responsible for maintaining this party discipline ...
... leadership State Council Presidential Council Communist Party Communist Party Congress Central Committee History General Secretary Politburo Secretariat Orgburo Legislature Congress of Soviets Central ... this view, stating "our rules represent 'organisational nonconfidence' of the party toward its parts, that is, supervision over all local, district, national and other organisations.. ... the organisation of the party takes place of the party itself the Central Committee takes the place of the organisation and finally the dictator takes the place of the ...
... Weak party discipline is usually more frequent in parties of notables than in populist parties ... The French Radical-Socialist Party had no party discipline, neither did any of the right-wing parties during the Third Republic (1871-1940) ... A weak party discipline is also found congressional systems such as the United States Congress ...
... The year 1978 saw the first open revolt in party discipline ... a cabinet minister, was allowed flout the party whip in Fianna Fáil and damaged Lynch's authority when he failed to expel the minister from the government and parliamentary party ...
Famous quotes containing the words discipline and/or party:
“If the factory people outside the colleges live under the discipline of narrow means, the people inside live under almost every other kind of discipline except that of narrow means—from the fruity austerities of learning, through the iron rations of English gentlemanhood, down to the modest disadvantages of occupying cold stone buildings without central heating and having to cross two or three quadrangles to take a bath.”
—Margaret Halsey (b. 1910)
“Last night, party at Lansdowne-House. Tonight, party at Lady Charlotte Greville’s—deplorable waste of time, and something of temper. Nothing imparted—nothing acquired—talking without ideas—if any thing like thought in my mind, it was not on the subjects on which we were gabbling. Heigho!—and in this way half London pass what is called life.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)