Editing Caucus (section)

====Historic usage====
[[File:Francis Schnadhorst cartoon 1886.jpg|thumb|"Farewell to the Caucus": 1886 cartoon of [[Francis Schnadhorst]], Secretary of the UK [[National Liberal Federation]], leaving [[Birmingham]] for London following the [[Joseph Chamberlain#Liberal split|split in the party]] over [[Government of Ireland Bill 1886|Irish Home Rule]]. His luggage includes a scroll marked "Caucus", several string puppets, and a box of "wire pulling machinery", all in allusion to his reputation as a backstage political manager.]]
The word "caucus" had a wide currency in the United Kingdom in the late 19th century, meaning a highly structured system of management and control within a political party, equivalent to a "[[Political machine|party machine]]" in the United States. It was used with specific reference to the structure of the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]]. Originally a pejorative term, used by detractors of the system with overtones of corrupt American practices, the name was soon adopted by the Liberals themselves.

The system had originated at a local level in [[Birmingham]] in preparation for the [[1868 United Kingdom general election|1868 general election]], when, under the [[Reform Act 1867|1867 Reform Act]], the city had been allocated three [[Electoral district|parliamentary seats]], but each elector had only two votes. In order to spread votes evenly, the secretary of the Birmingham Liberal Association, [[William Harris (Birmingham Liberal)|William Harris]] (later dubbed the "father of the Caucus") devised a four-tier organizational structure (of [[electoral ward|ward]] committees, general committee, executive committee, and management committee) through which Liberal voters in different wards could be instructed in the precise combinations in which to cast their votes.<ref>{{cite book |first=J. L. |last=Garvin |author-link=James Louis Garvin |title=The Life of Joseph Chamberlain |place=London |publisher=Macmillan |volume=1 |year=1932 |pages=254–55 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Asa |last=Briggs |author-link=Asa Briggs |chapter=Birmingham: the making of a Civic Gospel |title=Victorian Cities |edition=3rd |publisher=University of California Press |place=Berkeley |year=1993 |pages=184–240 (190–91) }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Ian |last=Cawood |title=Birmingham, the 'Caucus' and the 1868 general election |journal=Journal of Liberal History |volume=105 |date=2019–2020 |pages=30–36 }}</ref> In 1877 the newly formed [[National Liberal Federation]] was given a similar structure, on the initiative of [[Joseph Chamberlain]], and again worked out in detail by Harris.<ref>Garvin 1932, pp. 261–62.</ref>

Shortly afterwards the term "caucus" was applied to this system by ''[[The Times]]'' newspaper, which referred to "the 'caucus' with all its evils", and by the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] prime minister, [[Benjamin Disraeli]].<ref>{{cite news |title=[Leading article] |newspaper=The Times |date=12 June 1877 |issue=28966 |page=9 |quote=There is to be a sort of Liberal Parliament organized, which, in American language, seems intended to act as a great Liberal 'Caucus'. }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=J. |last=Chamberlain |author-link=Joseph Chamberlain |title=A new political organization |journal=Fortnightly Review |series=n.s. |volume=22 |issue=127 |date=1 July 1877 |pages=126–34 (134) |quote=... what the ''Times'' calls the new Liberal Caucus ... }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=[Leading article] |newspaper=The Times |date=31 July 1878 |page=10 |quote=We may say, and say truly, that the policy of the politicians of the Midland capital will bring upon us the 'caucus' with all its evils, but we cannot hope to checkmate it by giving it a bad name. The apologists of the system will tell us that the 'caucus' is a product of the peculiar conditions of life in America, which need not be apprehended in a society of totally different circumstances. }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=J. |last=Chamberlain |author-link=Joseph Chamberlain |title=Political organization [letter] |newspaper=The Times |date=1 August 1878 |page=8 |quote=I observe that you, in common with the Prime Minister, have adopted the word 'caucus' to designate our organization. }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=J. |last=Chamberlain |author-link=Joseph Chamberlain |title=The Caucus |journal=Fortnightly Review |series=n.s. |volume=24 |issue=143 |date=1 November 1878 |pages=721–41 (721) |quote=... the word ['caucus'] chosen by the Prime Minister to describe [the Liberals'] system, and eagerly caught up by lesser critics ... conveys the idea of secrecy and irresponsibility ... }}</ref> In 1880 [[Queen Victoria]], following a meeting with Disraeli, wrote disapprovingly in a private note of "that American system called caucus".<ref>{{cite book |first=George Earle |last=Buckle |title=The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield |location=London |publisher=John Murray |volume=6 |year=1920 |page=535 |quote=That the Liberals had worked on that American system called caucus, originated by the great Radical, Mr Chamberlain. }}</ref> The Liberal Caucus was also vilified by [[Socialism|socialists]] and [[Trade unions in the United Kingdom|trade unionists]], who (prior to the establishment of the [[Independent Labour Party]]) sought a route to parliamentary representation through the Liberal Party via the [[Labour Representation League]] and the [[Labour Electoral Association]], but found their way barred by the party's management structures.<ref>{{cite book |first=James |last=Owen |title=Labour and the Caucus: working-class radicalism and organised Liberalism in England, 1868–1888 |place=Liverpool |publisher=Liverpool University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-8463-1944-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QT5nDAAAQBAJ }}</ref>

[[Moisey Ostrogorsky]] devoted some nine chapters of his ''Democracy and the Organization of Political Parties'' (1902) to discussion of the development and operation of the "Caucus" in this sense.<ref>{{cite book |first=M. |last=Ostrogorski |author-link=Moisey Ostrogorsky |title=Democracy and the Organization of Political Parties |translator-first=Frederick |translator-last=Clarke |place=London |publisher=Macmillan |year=1902 |volume=1 |pages=161–249, 329–441, 502–529, 580–627 |url=https://archive.org/stream/democracyandtheo031734mbp#page/n223/mode/2up }}</ref>