Party discipline is the ability of a political party to get its members to support the policies of the party leadership. The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Representative democracy History of democracy Referenda Liberal democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Ideology Elections Elections by country Elections by calendar Electoral systems Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by...

In a liberal democratic context, it usually refers to the control that party leaders have over its legislative members. Party discipline tends to be extremely strong in Westminster systems such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and India in which a vote by the legislature against the government is understood to cause the government to "collapse," according to the convention of confidence votes. In these situations, it is extremely rare and politically suicidal for a member to vote against the wishes of their party. Party leaders in such governments often have the authority to expel from the party members who violate the party line. Party discipline is much weaker in Congressional systems such as the United States Congress. In these legislatures, it is routine for members to cross party lines on a given vote. The Westminster System is a democratic system of government modelled after that of the United Kingdom system, as used in the Palace of Westminster, the location of the UK parliament. ... A Motion of Confidence is a motion of support proposed by a government in a parliament to give members of parliament a chance to register their confidence for a government by means of a parliamentary vote. ... A presidential system, or a congressional system, is a system of government of a republic where the executive branch is elected separately from the legislative. ... The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States of America. ...

Almost all legislative democracies feature party whips, whose job is to enforce party discipline, although the powers of such a position varies considerably from party to party and country to country. In politics, a whip is a member of a political party in a legislature whose task is to ensure that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires. ...

The term has a somewhat different meaning in Marxist-Leninist political systems such as the People's Republic of China. In this case it refers to administrative sanctions such as fines or expulsion that the Communist Party can impose on its members for actions such as corruption or working against the party. Vladimir Lenin in 1920 Leninism is a political and economic theory which builds upon Marxism; it is a branch of Marxism (and it has been the dominant branch of Marxism in the world since the 1920s). ...