A political faction is a group of individuals, such as a political party, a trade union, or other group with a common political purpose. A faction or political party may include fragmented sub-factions, “parties within a party," which may be referred to as power blocs, or voting blocs. Members of factions band together as a way of achieving these goals and advancing their agenda and position within an organization.
Factions are not limited to political parties; they can and frequently do form within any group that has some sort of political aim or purpose.
Read more about Political Faction: Etymology and Usage, Aims of Factions, Organization, Operation of Factions, Effects of Factions
Famous quotes containing the words political and/or faction:
“Even the poor student studies and is taught only political economy, while that economy of living which is synonymous with philosophy is not even sincerely professed in our colleges. The consequence is, that while he is reading Adam Smith, Ricardo, and Say, he runs his father in debt irretrievably.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“A state of war or anarchy, in which law has little force, is so far valuable, that it puts every man on trial. The man of principle is known as such, and even in the fury of faction is respected.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)