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A political faction is a grouping of individuals, especially within a political organisation, such as a political party, a trade union, or other group with a political purpose. A political party is a Political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within Government, usually by participating in electoral A trade union or labour union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages hours and working conditions forming It may also be referred to as a power bloc, or a voting bloc. The individuals within a faction are united in a common goal or set of common goals for the organisation they are a part of, not necessarily shared by all of that organisation's members. They band together as a way of achieving these goals and advancing their agenda and position within the organisation.

A political faction could thus be described as a “party within a party”. It is important to note, however, that political factions are not limited to political parties; they can and frequently do form within any group that has some sort of political aim or purpose.


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Etymology and usage

The Latin word factio denoted originally either of the chariot teams that were organized professionally by private companies in ancient Rome,[1] each recognizable by characteristic colour, and arousing supporter hysteria similar to that in modern sports fans. [2] In time, political currents could become associated with such a team, although precisely how this happened is unclear. In Byzantine Constantinople, two such chariot factions, blue and green, repeatedly made or broke the claims of candidates to the imperial throne.

Occasionally, the term "faction" is still used more or less as a synonym for political party, but "with opprobrious sense, conveying the imputation of selfish or mischievous ends or turbulent or unscrupulous methods", according to the Oxford English Dictionary. A political party is a Political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within Government, usually by participating in electoral The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) published by the Oxford University Press (OUP is a comprehensive Dictionary of the English In his Dictionary, Samuel Johnson (a Tory) dismissively defined Whig as "the name of a faction". Samuel Johnson (often referred to as Dr Johnson) (18 September Similarly, in the tenth instalment of the Federalist Papers, James Madison defines a faction as "a number of citizens, whether amounting to a minority or majority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community. Federalist No 10 ( Federalist Number 10) is an Essay by James Madison and the tenth of the Federalist Papers, a series arguing The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles advocating the ratification of the United States Constitution. James Madison Jr (March 16 1751 – June 28 1836 was an American Politician, the fourth President of the United States (1809–1817 and one of the Founding " In plain English this is a group that pursues self interest at the expense of the common good.

Aims of factions

The aims of a political faction are as diverse as the different types of bodies within which they appear. Typically, however, they include: advancing a particular policy or policy agenda, preventing the adoption of alternative policies and supporting given individuals to positions of power within the organisation or in the wider political world. A policy is a deliberate plan of action to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome(s A faction can primarily be based around supporting a given person or group, or a single major aim, with little in the way of common agenda otherwise, or it can have a comprehensive and definitive set of policies. Either way, factional politics typically revolve around personality, with a few individuals playing key roles, acting as a magnet for like-minded people, leading the activities of the faction, and acting as a prominent voice for the shared objectives of the faction. Such individuals can be referred to by a variety of names, such as “powerbrokers” or “factional chiefs”.

Organization

Factions differ in the amount of organization and internal structure they possess. Most factions are very loose organisations, having no definitive list of members, but some factions, have a formal internal structure, with membership lists, regular meetings, official positions – such as negotiators, conveners, whips, and organisers, – and a definitive policy position on every issue affecting the broader organisation. Whip is a role in party-based politics whose primary purpose is to ensure control of the formal decision-making process in a parliamentary legislature Such factions will typically be binding – that is, they rely upon all members casting their votes in accordance with the pre-ordained official stance of the faction.

Operation of factions

In political organisations that are democratic in structure, factions rely heavily on securing enough votes to win important ballots. Democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is held completely by the people under a free electoral system This process is sometimes referred to as “doing the numbers”. Having the numbers will allow the faction to push policies it supports and elect its members to powerful positions within the broader organisation.

If one faction develops within an organisation, there will usually be at least one other that develops in opposition to it. Opposing factions will try to match each others’ level of organisation and internal discipline, but will also engage in negotiations and trade-offs to ensure that the organisation’s activities are not compromised and that every group has a chance to obtain at least some of its goals.

Key to the operation of an organised faction is the existence of a power base. This will typically be some office, division or branch of the broader organisation over which the faction has effective control. Sometimes a power base may be an external or affiliated organisation that is involved with the broader organisation in some way.

A power base serves several key functions:

Effects of factions

The existence of a factional system can have serious negative consequences for a political organisation. If factional strife becomes intensive and public, the organisation may suffer from perceptions of disunity. Taken one step further, if the conflict is particularly severe, it may cause ruptures within the organisation that seriously impede its effectiveness, leading to break-up or collapse of the organisation.

To avoid harm to the organisation, factional operations are usually conducted under strong secrecy and with minimal public scrutiny. This, however, can lead to the proliferation of unethical behaviour. Warfare between the factions may lead to tactics such as ballot box-stuffing, stack-outs, membership fraud, and other generally fraudulent conduct. Individuals who abandon a faction may be subject to intense personal vendettas where their former comrades go about sabotaging their careers. A feud (ˈfjuːd (referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud or vendetta) is a long-running argument or fight between parties&mdashoften through Guilt A climate of intense factional conflict can also motivate individuals to focus on attacking their factional enemies rather than furthering the broader organisation.

Despite this, the benefits of factional systems are often overlooked. It is often incomprehensible to outsiders why members of a broader organisation would engage in factionalism. This stems from the assumption that the natural factional relationship is one of conflict and strife, when in fact, factions are often able to engage in productive co-operation.

In any political organisation there are likely to be many highly opinionated and passionate people. The existence of a factional system allows its operations to be more predictable and stable. Compromise and give-and-take between factions allows the organisation to operate without having to satisfy the whims of many different, uncompromising individuals who might otherwise cause a split. So, somewhat counter-intuitively, factionalism can actually promote organisational harmony.

Factions also help to broaden and diversify the organisation’s appeal. A person who might otherwise find the organisation’s goals unattractive might be persuaded to support a faction within it whose goals are closer to their own. Just as a democratic government is often invigorated by a strong opposition, so having a number of distinct points-of-view with an organisation can energise it and allow it to perform its role more effectively. For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government particularly in a Westminster -based Parliamentary system It is also highly unlikely that any sizeable political organisation is wholly united in purpose, so arguably factions simply represent a way of managing pre-existing differences within the organisation.

Examples of Modern political factions

Australia

Within the Australian Labor Party

Within the Liberal Party of Australia

Belgium

China

Scotland

United States

Within the Democratic Party

Within the Republican Party

Notes

  1. ^ These teams were not unlike gladiator schools, but the lethal nature of that entertainment meant few performers lasted long enough to build up similar crowd loyalty to the "team", while the fighters rarely actually teamed up, but rather fought duels or beasts. The Christian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe a spectrum of right-wing Christian political and social movements and Gladiators (gladiatores "swordsmen" or "one who uses a sword" from la ''gladius'' "sword" were professional fighters in Ancient Rome who fought
  2. ^ Soccer, for instance, has seen riots between fans of opposing teams in England and Europe and once started a war in Central America.
  3. ^ Whitson, William and Huang Chen-hsia, The Chinese High Command: A History of Communist Military Politics, ( New York: Praeger, 1973).
  4. ^ Chang, Parris H. Power and Policy in China, (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1975).
  5. ^ Dittmer, Lowell. Bases of Power in Chinese Politics: A Theory and an Analysis of the Fall of the 'Gang of Four'," World Politics, XX, No. 4, October 1978, 26-60

References

The Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft, commonly called the "Pauly-Wissowa", is a German Encyclopedia of
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