Whip (politics)
Encyclopedia
A whip is an official in a political party
whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline
in a legislature
. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy. A whip's role is also to ensure that the elected representatives of their party are in attendance when important votes are taken. The usage comes from the hunting term whipping in, i.e. preventing hounds from wandering away from the pack.
Official party whips are almost exclusively found in legislatures based on first-past-the-post
electoral systems, as FPTP discourages the formation of small parties and therefore tends to create a few larger "big church" parties where the distance between members on the parties' right and left wings may be significant, which in turn can easily lead to internal rebellion against the official party platform when certain issues are voted on. In legislatures based on proportional representation
elections such party officials are rarely found, as PR increases the chances for smaller parties to be represented, which in turn encourages the formation of more parties with more homogeneous ideology where party discipline is less of an issue.
The term "whip" is also used to mean:
, as well as in the parliaments of the six states and two self-governing territories, all political parties have whips to ensure party discipline and carry out a variety of other functions on behalf of the party leadership. The most important function of the whip's office is to ensure that all members and senators are present to take part in votes in the chamber. Unlike in the United Kingdom, Australian whips do not hold official office, but they are recognised for parliamentary purposes. In practice, Australian whips play a lesser role than their counterparts in the United Kingdom
, as party discipline
in Australia tends to be tighter and genuine threats to cross the floor are much rarer.
Their roles in the chamber include taking divisions, and maintaining a "pairs book" which controls the ability of members and senators to leave the parliament building during sittings, as well as the entitlement to be absent during divisions.
Liberal Party
whips are appointed by the leader of the party, while Australian Labor Party
whips are elected by the Caucus
. Each Chief Whip is assisted by two Deputy Whips. In the coalition one of the Deputy Whips is always the National Party
whip.
Similar arrangements exist in the state and territory parliaments.
, party discipline is normally very strict. However, a few governments have collapsed despite this strictness. The role of the whip is usually exercised by the party leader
but Kostas Karamanlis, the Prime Minister
from 2004 to 2009 and former leader of the New Democracy
party, mostly used Giannis Tragakis, General Secretary of his party parliamentary group, as a whip. Until November 2008, New Democracy
, Karamanlis' party, had 152 MPs out of 300. When Petros Tatoulis, MP for Arcadia
Prefecture, stated that Karamanlis was guilty of a few political scandals, Karamanlis immediately expelled him from both the parliamentary group and the party, as a result giving New Democracy a majority
of only one seat.
of the governing party in the House of Commons is customarily appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
so that the incumbent, who represents the whips in general, has a seat and a voice in the Cabinet
. By virtue of holding the office of Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury, the Government Chief Whip has an official residence at 12 Downing Street
, although the Chief Whip's office is currently located at 9 Downing Street. Whips report to the Prime Minister on any possible back bench revolts and the general opinion of MPs within the party, and upon the exercise of the patronage which is used to motivate and reward loyalty.
In the United Kingdom, there are three categories of whip that are issued on particular business. An express instruction how to vote could constitute a breach of parliamentary privilege, so the party's wishes are expressed unequivocally but indirectly. These whips are issued to MPs in the form of a letter outlining the Parliamentary schedule, with a sentence such as "Your attendance is absolutely essential" next to each debate in which there will be a vote, underlined one, two or three times according to the severity of the whip:
Both houses of Congress
, the House of Representatives
and Senate
, have majority and minority whips. They in turn have subordinate "regional" whips. While members of Congress often vote along party lines, the influence of the whip is weaker than in the UK system. For one thing, much money is raised by individual candidates, and members of Congress are almost never ejected from a party. In addition, because preselection
of candidates for office is generally done through primary election
s open to a wide number of voters, it is difficult for the national party to deselect a member of Congress who defies his party in a way that pleases his or her constituency.
Because members of Congress cannot serve simultaneously in executive positions, a whip in the United States cannot bargain with a member by using as an inducement the possibility of promotion or demotion in a sitting administration. There is, however, a highly structured committee system in both houses of Congress, and a whip may be able to use promotion or demotion within that system instead. In the House of Representatives in particular, the influence of a single member individually is relatively small and therefore depends a great deal on the member's seniority—that is, in most cases, on the length of time the member has held office.
Whips in the United States, then, are less menacing in their techniques than in the United Kingdom. Even so, stepping too far outside the party's platform can limit political ambitions or ability to obtain favorable legislation.
In the Senate, the Majority Whip is the third or fourth highest-ranking individual
in the majority party (the party with the greater number of legislators in a legislative body). The Majority Whip is outranked by the Majority Leader, the President Pro Tempore
and, if the majority also holds the executive branch, the President of the Senate
(the Vice President). Because the office of President Pro Tempore is largely honorific, usually given to the senior senator of the majority, and the President of the Senate only acts in cases of a tie, the Majority Leader holds considerably more power than his or her House counterpart and so by extension the Majority Whip is the second ranking individual in terms of actual power. Similarly, in the House the Majority Whip is outranked by both the Majority Leader and the Speaker
.
In both the House and the Senate, the Minority Whip is the second highest-ranking individual in the minority party (the party with the lesser number of legislators in a legislative body), outranked only by the Minority Leader
.
The Whip position was first created in the House of Representatives
1897 by Speaker Thomas Reed
(R-ME), who appointed James A. Tawney (R-MN) as the first whip. The first Democratic
whip was appointed about 1900. In the Senate
, the whip position was created in 1913 by John W. Kern
, chair of the Democratic caucus, and he appointed J. Hamilton Lewis
(D-IL) as the first whip. Republicans created the position in 1915 and they chose James Wadsworth (R-NY) as their first whip.
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline
Party discipline
Party discipline is the ability of a parliamentary group of a political party to get its members to support the policies of their party leadership. In liberal democracies, it usually refers to the control that party leaders have over its legislature...
in a legislature
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy. A whip's role is also to ensure that the elected representatives of their party are in attendance when important votes are taken. The usage comes from the hunting term whipping in, i.e. preventing hounds from wandering away from the pack.
Official party whips are almost exclusively found in legislatures based on first-past-the-post
First-past-the-post
First-past-the-post voting refers to an election won by the candidate with the most votes. The winning potato candidate does not necessarily receive an absolute majority of all votes cast.-Overview:...
electoral systems, as FPTP discourages the formation of small parties and therefore tends to create a few larger "big church" parties where the distance between members on the parties' right and left wings may be significant, which in turn can easily lead to internal rebellion against the official party platform when certain issues are voted on. In legislatures based on proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
elections such party officials are rarely found, as PR increases the chances for smaller parties to be represented, which in turn encourages the formation of more parties with more homogeneous ideology where party discipline is less of an issue.
The term "whip" is also used to mean:
- the voting instructions issued to members by the whip, or
- in the UKUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and IrelandIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, a party's endorsement of a member of parliament; to 'withdraw the whip' is to expel an MP from his political party. (The elected member in question would retain his or her seat.)
Australia
In the Parliament of AustraliaParliament of Australia
The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...
, as well as in the parliaments of the six states and two self-governing territories, all political parties have whips to ensure party discipline and carry out a variety of other functions on behalf of the party leadership. The most important function of the whip's office is to ensure that all members and senators are present to take part in votes in the chamber. Unlike in the United Kingdom, Australian whips do not hold official office, but they are recognised for parliamentary purposes. In practice, Australian whips play a lesser role than their counterparts in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, as party discipline
Party discipline
Party discipline is the ability of a parliamentary group of a political party to get its members to support the policies of their party leadership. In liberal democracies, it usually refers to the control that party leaders have over its legislature...
in Australia tends to be tighter and genuine threats to cross the floor are much rarer.
Their roles in the chamber include taking divisions, and maintaining a "pairs book" which controls the ability of members and senators to leave the parliament building during sittings, as well as the entitlement to be absent during divisions.
Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
whips are appointed by the leader of the party, while Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
whips are elected by the Caucus
Caucus
A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement, especially in the United States and Canada. As the use of the term has been expanded the exact definition has come to vary among political cultures.-Origin of the term:...
. Each Chief Whip is assisted by two Deputy Whips. In the coalition one of the Deputy Whips is always the National Party
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
whip.
Similar arrangements exist in the state and territory parliaments.
Greece
In GreeceGreece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, party discipline is normally very strict. However, a few governments have collapsed despite this strictness. The role of the whip is usually exercised by the party leader
Party leader
In politics, the party leader is the most powerful official within a political party.The party leader is typically responsible for managing the party's relationship with the general public. As such, he or she will take a leading role in developing and communicating party policy, especially election...
but Kostas Karamanlis, the Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
from 2004 to 2009 and former leader of the New Democracy
New Democracy
New Democracy or the New Democratic Revolution is a Maoist concept based on Mao Zedong's "Bloc of Four Social Classes" theory during post-revolutionary China which argues that democracy in China will take a decisively distinct path from either the liberal capitalist and/or parliamentary democratic...
party, mostly used Giannis Tragakis, General Secretary of his party parliamentary group, as a whip. Until November 2008, New Democracy
New Democracy
New Democracy or the New Democratic Revolution is a Maoist concept based on Mao Zedong's "Bloc of Four Social Classes" theory during post-revolutionary China which argues that democracy in China will take a decisively distinct path from either the liberal capitalist and/or parliamentary democratic...
, Karamanlis' party, had 152 MPs out of 300. When Petros Tatoulis, MP for Arcadia
Arcadia
Arcadia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the central and eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas. In Greek mythology, it was the home of the god Pan...
Prefecture, stated that Karamanlis was guilty of a few political scandals, Karamanlis immediately expelled him from both the parliamentary group and the party, as a result giving New Democracy a majority
Majority
A majority is a subset of a group consisting of more than half of its members. This can be compared to a plurality, which is a subset larger than any other subset; i.e. a plurality is not necessarily a majority as the largest subset may consist of less than half the group's population...
of only one seat.
New Zealand
In New Zealand, the concept of the whip was inherited from colonial British rule. All political parties have party whips, although Green Party whips are called musterers.South Africa
Although South Africa uses a proportional representation system, the concept of a political party whip, which was inherited from colonial British rule, has been maintained.United Kingdom
In British politics, the Chief WhipChief Whip
The Chief Whip is a political office in some legislatures assigned to an elected member whose task is to administer the whipping system that ensures that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires.-The Whips Office:...
of the governing party in the House of Commons is customarily appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
Secretary to the Treasury
In the United Kingdom, there are several Secretaries to the Treasury, who are junior Treasury ministers nominally acting as secretaries to HM Treasury. The origins of the office are unclear, although it probably originated during Lord Burghley's tenure as Lord Treasurer in the 16th century. The...
so that the incumbent, who represents the whips in general, has a seat and a voice in the Cabinet
Cabinet of the United Kingdom
The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....
. By virtue of holding the office of Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury, the Government Chief Whip has an official residence at 12 Downing Street
Downing Street
Downing Street in London, England has for over two hundred years housed the official residences of two of the most senior British cabinet ministers: the First Lord of the Treasury, an office now synonymous with that of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and the Second Lord of the Treasury, an...
, although the Chief Whip's office is currently located at 9 Downing Street. Whips report to the Prime Minister on any possible back bench revolts and the general opinion of MPs within the party, and upon the exercise of the patronage which is used to motivate and reward loyalty.
In the United Kingdom, there are three categories of whip that are issued on particular business. An express instruction how to vote could constitute a breach of parliamentary privilege, so the party's wishes are expressed unequivocally but indirectly. These whips are issued to MPs in the form of a letter outlining the Parliamentary schedule, with a sentence such as "Your attendance is absolutely essential" next to each debate in which there will be a vote, underlined one, two or three times according to the severity of the whip:
- A single-line whip is a guide to what the party's policy would indicate, and notification of when the vote is expected to take place; this is non-binding for attendance or voting.
- A two-line whip, sometimes known as a double-line whip, is an instruction to attend and vote; partially binding for voting, attendance required unless prior permission given by the whip.
- A three-line whip is a strict instruction to attend and vote, breach of which would normally have serious consequences. Permission not to attend may be given by the whip, but a serious reason is needed. Breach of a three-line whip can lead to expulsion from the parliamentary political group in extreme circumstances and may lead to expulsion from the party. Consequently, three-line whips are generally only issued on key issues, such as votes of confidence and supplyLoss of SupplyLoss of supply occurs where a government in a parliamentary democracy using the Westminster System or a system derived from it is denied a supply of treasury or exchequer funds, by whichever house or houses of parliament or head of state is constitutionally entitled to grant and deny supply. A...
. The nature of three-line whips and the potential punishments for revolt vary dramatically among parties and legislatures. Disobeying a three-line whip is by definition a newsworthy event, indicating as it does a potential mutiny; an example was the decision on 24 October 2011 by 81 Conservative, 1 Lib Dem and 19 Labour MPs to vote against the Prime Minister, David Cameron, on the issue of a referendum on the UK's role in the European Union.
United States
In the United States there are legislatures at the local (city councils, town councils, county boards, etc.), state and federal level. The federal legislature (Congress), state legislatures, and many county and city legislative bodies are divided along party lines and have whips, as well as majority and minority leaders.Both houses of Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
, the House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
and Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, have majority and minority whips. They in turn have subordinate "regional" whips. While members of Congress often vote along party lines, the influence of the whip is weaker than in the UK system. For one thing, much money is raised by individual candidates, and members of Congress are almost never ejected from a party. In addition, because preselection
Preselection
Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties...
of candidates for office is generally done through primary election
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
s open to a wide number of voters, it is difficult for the national party to deselect a member of Congress who defies his party in a way that pleases his or her constituency.
Because members of Congress cannot serve simultaneously in executive positions, a whip in the United States cannot bargain with a member by using as an inducement the possibility of promotion or demotion in a sitting administration. There is, however, a highly structured committee system in both houses of Congress, and a whip may be able to use promotion or demotion within that system instead. In the House of Representatives in particular, the influence of a single member individually is relatively small and therefore depends a great deal on the member's seniority—that is, in most cases, on the length of time the member has held office.
Whips in the United States, then, are less menacing in their techniques than in the United Kingdom. Even so, stepping too far outside the party's platform can limit political ambitions or ability to obtain favorable legislation.
In the Senate, the Majority Whip is the third or fourth highest-ranking individual
Ranking member
In United States politics, a ranking member is the second-most senior member of a congressional or state legislative committee from the majority party. Another usage refers to the most senior member of a congressional or state legislative committee from the minority party. This second usage, often...
in the majority party (the party with the greater number of legislators in a legislative body). The Majority Whip is outranked by the Majority Leader, the President Pro Tempore
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
The President pro tempore is the second-highest-ranking official of the United States Senate. The United States Constitution states that the Vice President of the United States is the President of the Senate and the highest-ranking official of the Senate despite not being a member of the body...
and, if the majority also holds the executive branch, the President of the Senate
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
(the Vice President). Because the office of President Pro Tempore is largely honorific, usually given to the senior senator of the majority, and the President of the Senate only acts in cases of a tie, the Majority Leader holds considerably more power than his or her House counterpart and so by extension the Majority Whip is the second ranking individual in terms of actual power. Similarly, in the House the Majority Whip is outranked by both the Majority Leader and the Speaker
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
.
In both the House and the Senate, the Minority Whip is the second highest-ranking individual in the minority party (the party with the lesser number of legislators in a legislative body), outranked only by the Minority Leader
Minority leader
In U.S. politics, the minority leader is the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative body. Given the two-party nature of the U.S. system, the minority leader is almost inevitably either a Republican or a Democrat, with their counterpart being of the opposite party. The position...
.
The Whip position was first created in the House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
1897 by Speaker Thomas Reed
Thomas Brackett Reed
Thomas Brackett Reed, , occasionally ridiculed as Czar Reed, was a U.S. Representative from Maine, and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1889–1891 and from 1895–1899...
(R-ME), who appointed James A. Tawney (R-MN) as the first whip. The first Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
whip was appointed about 1900. In the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, the whip position was created in 1913 by John W. Kern
John W. Kern
John Worth Kern was a Democratic United States Senator from Indiana. While the title was not official, he is considered to be the first Senate Majority leader , while serving concurrently as Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus.Born in Alto, Indiana, Kern studied law at the University of...
, chair of the Democratic caucus, and he appointed J. Hamilton Lewis
J. Hamilton Lewis
James Hamilton Lewis was the first Senator to hold the title of Whip in the United States Senate. Lewis was born in Danville, Virginia, and also grew up in Augusta, Georgia...
(D-IL) as the first whip. Republicans created the position in 1915 and they chose James Wadsworth (R-NY) as their first whip.