Political faction

This article is about divisions within political parties. For organisations with both political and military subdivisions, see paramilitary group.

A political faction is a group of people with a common political purpose, especially a subgroup of a political party that has interests or opinions different from the rest of the political party.^[1][2] Intragroup conflict between factions can lead to schism of the political party into two political parties. The Ley de Lemas electoral system allows the voters to indicate on the ballot their preference for political factions within a political party. Political factions can represent voting blocs. Political factions require a weaker party discipline. Research indicates that factions can play an important role in moving their host party along the ideological spectrum.^[3]

George Washington's Farewell Address

The first president of the United States, George Washington, warned of political factions in his famous farewell address from 1796. He warned of political parties generally, as according to Washington, political party loyalty when prioritized over duty to the nation and commitment to principles, was considered to be a major threat to the survival of a democratic constitutional republic:^[4][5]

Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it [the formation and loyalty to partisan interests, over loyalty to principles or one's country].^[5][4]

By country

Australia

• Factions in the Australian Labor Party
• Factions in the Liberal Party of Australia

France

• Factions in the Socialist Party (France)

Italy

• Factions in the Communist Refoundation Party
• Factions in the Democratic Party (Italy)
• Factions in Forza Italia
• Factions in The People of Freedom

Japan

• Factions in the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)

Russia/Soviet Union

• Factions of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
• List of Oppositions in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union [ru]

United Kingdom

• List of organisations associated with the Conservative Party (UK)
• List of organisations associated with the Labour Party (UK)

United States

• Factions in the Democratic Party (United States)
• Factions in the Libertarian Party (United States)
• Factions in the Republican Party (United States)

See also

• Partisan (politics)

References

1. Nicholas, R. W. (2012). Factions: a comparative analysis. In Political systems and the distribution of power (pp. 21-61). Routledge.
2. "faction", dictionary.com
3. Blum, Rachel M.; Cowburn, Mike (23 June 2023). "How Local Factions Pressure Parties: Activist Groups and Primary Contests in the Tea Party Era". British Journal of Political Science: 1–22. doi:10.1017/S0007123423000224.
4. "The Founding Fathers Feared Political Factions Would Tear the Nation Apart". HISTORY. 2019-03-07. Retrieved 2023-09-07.
5. Avlon, John (2017-01-10). "George Washington's Farewell Warning". POLITICO Magazine. Retrieved 2023-09-07.