With the results of the Iowa Caucus, the first step in the American presidential election, showing Senator Ted Cruz narrowly winning for the Republicans and Hillary Clinton leading in the too-close-to-call Democratic contest, much of the media attention will go into analysing what happened in Iowa as well as moving on to the next contest in New Hampshire. Though, the results are what matter, many people – even a large number of Americans – do not quite understand what a caucus is and what makes Iowa so different. Before examining the event itself, what about the word?
The word caucus, simply meaning a private or restricted meeting, first came into use during the mid-1700’s in the British colonies of North America, and is thought to have derived from either the Algonquin (Native American Indian) word caucauasu, meaning “counsel,” or the Algonquian cawaassough, meaning “adviser,” or even a mix of both. The word can be utilized in a number of meeting/group discussion scenarios; yet, the most widely understood usage is political/governmental.
So, in a political sense, how does a caucus work? While many of us are accustomed to elections where one can vote at any time during the day and via a secret ballot, caucuses are different. A caucus involves meeting at a certain place and a certain time, behind closed doors, and only involves members of a certain political party. For example, in Iowa, a Republican caucus occurring at a gymnasium at 7p.m., would only be open to registered Republicans who arrive at the gymnasium at or before that hour. As for how votes are tallied in a caucus scenario, this can either be done by secret ballot or by an open, public ballot, involving people dividing themselves into groups based on which candidate they support. As far as benefits and drawbacks are concerned, caucuses, due to their restrictions, tend to have a much smaller turnout. But due to their more public, participatory nature and the fact that attendees are typically more motivated, those who vote are more educated on the candidates as well as the issues.
Caucus – History
The first known use of the word caucus was in a supplement of the Boston Gazette from 5 May, 1760 where a reference was made to: “The new and grand Caucus… The old and true Caucus.” Unlike in the American system, where a caucus has always been viewed more as a necessity, the first strictly British use of the word appears in an 1878 issue of The Times, stating that, “The policy of the politicians of the Midland capital will bring upon us the ‘caucus’ with all its evils..The introduction and progress of the ‘caucus’ system among us.”
Aside from the word itself, why is Iowa the first state to vote?
Iowa does not hold a place of particular significance to merit such an important position, but it has been the first to vote since 1972 because of their complex (and time-consuming) system of caucuses and conventions from individual precinct-level to state-level as well as a desire to spread out the national presidential primary schedule.
