A party-line vote in a

deliberative assembly A deliberative assembly is a meeting of members who use parliamentary procedure. Etymology In a speech to the electorate at Bristol in 1774, Edmund Burke described the British Parliament as a "deliberative assembly," and the expression became ...

(such as a

constituent assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, or

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

) is a vote in which a substantial majority of members of a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

vote the same way (usually in opposition to the other political party(ies) whose members vote the opposite way). Sources vary on what proportion of party members must adhere to the party line in order for the vote to constitute a "party-line" vote. For example, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, the ''Congressional Record'' has stated: "A party-line vote is one on which a majority of Republicans vote one way and a majority of Democrats vote another. 2. A bipartisan vote is one in which a majority of Republicans and a majority of Democrats vote the same way". Another source defined this event for purposes of classifying votes for research purposes as "one where 90 percent of the majority party votes against 90 percent of the minority party". Party-line votes are also noted to reflect the degree to which the division of power requires parties to retain cohesion in order to implement its goals:

United States

In the U.S. Congress, it is the function of the

party whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideolog ...

of each party in each house to ensure that members adhere to party policies and in particular that members vote for or against bills, amendments, and (in the case of the U.S. Senate) for or against treaties and administration appointments as determined by senior party leadership. The leverage available to the party whip may be in rewards (such as the negotiation of side deals for

pork barrel ''Pork barrel'', or simply ''pork'', is a metaphor for the appropriation of government spending for localized projects secured solely or primarily to bring money to a representative's district. The usage originated in American English, and i ...

spending) or in punishments (such as withholding appointments to powerful committees). The ultimate threat is to support another candidate in the

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

with endorsements and party funds. The party whip will operate under the direction of the particular party's leader (called respectively the

majority leader In U.S. politics (as well as in some other countries utilizing the presidential system), the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.

or the minority leader). Prior to the 1980s, it was not uncommon for members of the U.S. House of Representatives to "cross the aisle" and vote for legislation supported by the opposing party. By the mid-1990s, however, the House became almost completely partisan and polarized.

References

External links

U.S. Senate party-line voting for the 110th CongressU.S. House party-line voting for the 110th Congress
Voting {{politics-stub