The Caucus is a term strongly linked to the partisan electoral process of the United States of America and generates curiosity in more than one. Next, in Que-quiere-decir.com we will show you what is the meaning of Caucus and we will talk about its etymological origins.
The Caucus as such is a method of election of a candidate used by the American Democratic and Republican parties respectively. Its literal translation into Spanish is defined as a Party Assembly.
This method works in some specific states, such as Nevada, Iowa or Wyoming, and involves electing a specific number of delegates.
These delegates fulfill the function of representing an exact percentage of the total number of voters that a party has in those states.
In the end, the delegates meet in an assembly and cast the final votes to determine which candidate was chosen to represent the party in the elections.
As a highlight, this system is carried out in parallel with the primary process, which takes place as a traditional choice.
Another possible use of the term caucus is when it is used simply to designate a group or team of gathered politicians.
Caucus Origin
The origin of this word comes from a language spoken by Native Americans, this is known as Algonquino.
Thus, Caucus was born directly from the Algonquin term cau´-cau-as´u which, translated into Spanish, means meeting of tribal chiefs.
In these Meetings the chiefs of the different tribes used to discuss about war, alliances, exchange of goods and other topics of interest.
Today, this term is used given the interest of the members of the Democratic Party to incorporate words from Native American languages into the English language.