Editing Conscience vote (section)

=== United States===
In the United States, parties exercise comparatively little control over the votes of individual legislators. However, the parties' [[Whip_(politics)#United_States|whips]] offer varying amounts of incentives or disincentives to unite the party on major votes. As an extreme case, Democrat [[James Traficant]] was stripped of his seniority and committee assignments in 2001 when he voted for a Republican, [[Dennis Hastert]], to be [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives]]. 

When a party's leadership declines to whip votes in a situation where they normally would, this is sometimes called a "conscience vote," "vote of conscience," or members "voting their consciences." For instance, an aide to Senate Minority Whip [[Dick Durbin]] said that "Decisions about war and peace are conscience votes and they aren’t whipped traditionally," regarding the [[Joint_Comprehensive_Plan_of_Action#Congressional_votes|potential disapproval of the Iran nuclear agreement]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kiefer |first1=Francine |title=Why some Democratic senators describe Iran deal as a 'conscience vote' |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2015/0724/Why-some-Democratic-senators-describe-Iran-deal-as-a-conscience-vote |website=Christian Science Monitor |date=24 July 2015}}</ref> Similarly, when House Republican leadership decided not to whip votes against the [[Second impeachment of Donald Trump|second impeachment]] of [[Donald Trump]], [[Liz Cheney]]—the third-highest-ranking Republican—referred to the matter as a "vote of conscience".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Herb |first1=Jeremy |last2=Raju |first2=Manu |last3=Fox |first3=Lauren |last4=Mattingly |first4=Phil |title=Impeachment a 'vote of conscience' for GOP |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/12/politics/republican-reaction-impeach-vote/index.html |website=CNN |access-date=12 January 2021 |date=12 January 2021 |quote=House Republican leaders won't whip their colleagues and tell them to vote against the impeachment resolution on Wednesday, according to leadership aides. Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 in GOP leadership [...], did not tell her members how to vote Monday, but she called the impeachment vote a 'vote of conscience.{{'-}}}}</ref> At other times the terms are used to describe a vote based on personal morals rather than political considerations.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Cutter |first1=Stephanie |title=Congress, let this be a vote of conscience |url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/09/opinion/cutter-obama-syria-conscience/index.html |website=CNN |access-date=12 January 2021 |language=en |date=9 September 2013 |quote=Voting your conscience – standing up for what you believe in – is not only the safest way to ensure you can articulate a defense for your vote, but it's also your duty as an elected official.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Anderson |first1=Nick |last2=Simon |first2=Richard |title=For Dissenters, 'Nos' Were a Vote of Conscience |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-11-na-dissent11-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=12 January 2021 |date=11 October 2002 |quote=Still, many of the dissenters made clear that the vote was one of the toughest of their careers. They said they relied more on conscience than ideology in making up their minds.}}</ref>