How Do Caucuses Work?

The caucus is a democratic process used by organizations to reach a decision. The main feature that separates the caucus from a straight vote on a topic is the inclusion of debate. But for some organizations, that debate might be limited in nature. The form a caucus takes can vary greatly, although the best known example is arguably the model used by the Democratic Party in the Iowa presidential nomination process.

Iowa Democratic Caucus

For the Democratic Party's Iowa Caucus, each election precinct in the state holds a meeting where the party's voters split up into groups, with each group supporting a single candidate. For the first 30 minutes, the groups send chosen delegates to each other for the purpose of debating the merits of their candidates and encouraging defections. This is followed by a first round of voting. Candidates achieving less than 15 percent of the vote are considered nonviable and excluded from the second round. This usually leaves at least a few newly unaffiliated voters. The remaining candidate groups then have another 30 minutes for persuading these "loose voters" to join them. Then the second and final round of voting is held. While long and cumbersome, the process does include a great deal of debate, voting is public and the procedure makes the second choice of many voters a critical factor in determining the outcome.

Iowa Republican Caucus

The Republican process in Iowa is much simpler. Republican voters gather by election precinct and listen to a speech by a designated representative from each candidate's campaign. Then they vote by secret ballot. The process is very similar to an election primary except all party-registered voters who wish to participate must listen to some final electioneering, which might persuade wavering or dithering voters.

Other Presidential Caucuses

Iowa is not the only state to hold a presidential caucus, although as the first state in the U.S. presidential nomination procedure, it is the most famous. Both parties in Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, and North Dakota use the caucus. Generally speaking, Democrats and Republicans follow the lead of their cousins in Iowa, and follow the same general procedure and rules.

The Texas Two-Step

An odd variant on the caucus procedure is followed in Texas. In what is jokingly called "The Texas Two-Step," the first step is to hold a standard primary election. But this only determines which candidate receives 65 percent of the Texas Democratic Party's nomination delegates. The remaining delegates are decided in a caucus that is held after the primary vote. Texas Republicans also hold a caucus, but this is merely to pick the people who will become nomination delegates. It therefore has little to do with nominating presidential candidates but instead is about having a say in who gets the perk of going to the Republican National Convention.

Congressional Caucuses

Members of Congress form a caucus to coordinate and pursue common legislative goals. The broadest examples are in the party-wide caucuses in each House of Congress (such as the Senate Republican Caucus and the House Democratic Caucus). Other examples include the caucus of libertarian-oriented Republicans called the Liberty Committee; the Congressional Black Caucus for blacks of both parties; and the Blue Dog Coalition of conservative Democrats. There are two Congressional Hispanic Caucuses, one for each party. These caucuses are individual factions and governed by their own, self-determined set of rules.