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In the United States, a caucus is a meeting of local members of a political party or subgroup to nominate candidates, plan policy, etc., in the Congress of the United States or other similar representative organs of government. One of the best-known examples is the Congressional Black Caucus, a group of African-American members of Congress. Other examples include the caucuses used by some states to select presidential nominees, such as the Iowa caucuses.

In some Commonwealth nations, a caucus is a regular meeting of all Members of Parliament who belong to a political party. In a Westminster System, a party caucus can be quite powerful, as it has the ability to elect or dismiss the party's parliamentary leader. The caucus also determines some matters of policy, parliamentary tactics, and disciplinary measures against disobedient MPs. In some parties (such as the Australian Labor Party or the New Zealand Labour Party), caucus also has the ability to elect MPs to Cabinet when the party is in government.

In New Zealand and in the Australian Labor Party, the term "caucus" can be used to refer to the collective group of the MPs themselves, rather than merely the meeting of these MPs. Thus, the (Australian) Federal Parliamentary Labor Party is commonly called "the Labor Caucus." The word was introduced to Australia by King O'Malley, an American-born Labor member of the first federal Parliament in 1901, and presumably entered into New Zealand politics at a similar time. In New Zealand, the term is used by all political parties, but in Australia, it is restricted to the Labor Party - the Liberal Party of Australia, for example, always calls its parliamentary members the Parliamentary Liberal Party.

The usage of caucus in CanadaCanada historically the Dominion of Canada is the second-largest, and northernmost, country in the world. It is a decentralized federation of 10 provinces and 3 territories, governed as a constitutional monarchy, and formed in 1867 through an act of Confe is similar to that of New Zealand; caucus refers to all members of a particular party elected to parliament or a provincialProvince is a name for a secondary, or subnational entity of government in most countries. In some countries an alternative term is used, such as state (in Australia and the United States), department (in France), or region (in Italy, where a province is legislature. In Canada, these members elect among themselves a caucus chairA caucus chair is a person who chairs the meetings of a caucus. Often, the caucus chair is assigned other duties as well. In common U. Congressional Republican caucus legislative usage, the caucus chair is styled conference chairman and is outranked by th who presides over their meetings and is an important figure when the party is in oppositionOpposition may refer to a number of topics: Astronomical opposition Parliamentary Opposition. and an important link between cabinetAlternate meanings in cabinet (disambiguation A Cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of government, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers . In some countries, particularly those and the backbench when the party is in governmentA government is an organization that has the power to make and enforce laws for a certain territory. There are several definitions on what exactly constitutes a government. The government has been defined as the dominant decision-making arm (the policy el.

The origin of the word "caucus" is debated, although it is generally agreed that it came into use in English in the United States. According to some sources, it comes from the Algonquin word for "counsel," cau´-cau-as´u, and was probably introduced into American political usage through the Democratic Party machine in New York known as Tammany Hall, which liked to use Native American terms. Other sources claim that it derived from Medieval Latin caucus, meaning "drinking vessel", and link it to the Boston Club . In the Finnish language, there is also a word, kokous, meaning an official meeting. The existance of this word in the Finnish language supports the theory that it has European origins. It is also known that many Finns moved to the United States, more specifically to the East Coast and the areas surrounding the Great Lakes.