Charter/What is a caucus

A caucus might appear anarchic, but it is one of the basic building blocks of open government. Don't confuse this with faction. A caucus may develop into a faction, but only after considerable time has passed -- the typical caucus (in face life) only lasts an hour or so. Then it breaks up and the members go their separate ways. Nobody "signs on" to a caucus; quite often, the individuals who join a caucus are violently opposed. When commentators talk about "smoke-filled rooms" and "back-room deals", they are talking of caucuses of established and powerful figures.

The most common type of caucus occurs when, in the uproar of the main floor of a convention, one member taps another one or two on the shoulder and nods toward a quiet corner. These two or three discuss some issue together; perhaps they reach agreement; perhaps they do not. Often a caucus will attract attention, even if it is held in a room off to the side -- and if the door is left open, it is a signal that anyone may walk into the room and take part in the discussion. Membership in a caucus consists of being there. As the discussion continues, members join and leave without formality.

Members of a caucus may all belong to one faction, but it is unlikely; by definition, faction members are in some sort of agreement already. It is much more common for members of two or more factions to caucus together in an attempt to reach some common ground.

A true caucus is not named; it is just a bunch of people in a corner, in a room, or standing outside the convention hall on the sidewalk, cooling off. When the meeting is over, it disperses forever. It is tempting to think of the caucus as unimportant, but without it, no proposal at any convention would ever come to a vote.

See also meatball:GetARoom (00:25, 17 Apr 2005 67.2.184.217)

Wikipedia at present is an excellent example of the Conflict Paradox and the difficulty of reaching a Community Solution in large groups. -- from the above. [[User:Xiong|— Xiong熊talk]] 10:48, 19 Apr 2005 (CDT)

Yes. However, note that MeatballWiki has been much criticized for abusing the term "community" in a self-aggrandising way - note that the word originally refers to a real-world group of people sharing actual risk of bodily harm. What they call a "community solution" might rather be called a "polity".