Caucus is a meeting of the
members of parliament
who belong to a
particular
party
(as in, the Liberal caucus, the
NDP caucus). Meetings of caucus—which are
usually held in private—may discuss a wide range of
topics of concern to party members, including the policies to be
followed by the party and parliamentary tactics. Caucus
meetings are an important forum for the exchange of information
between the party leaders, ministers (if the party is in
government), and the
back bench
. In the past, voting at a
meeting of the party caucus was used in Canada as a common way of
choosing the
party leader
. Today,
leaders are usually chosen at a party convention, or by direct
ballot
of all the party members.