imported>Beland: {{distinguish|Non-partisan democracy}}

2021-07-30T17:56:08Z

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{{distinguish|Non-partisan democracy}}
{{Globalize|article|USA|2name=the United States|date=May 2012}}
{{Party politics}}
'''Nonpartisanism''' is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias toward, a [[political party]].<ref>The ''[[Merriam-Webster's]]'' dictionary defines ''nonpartisan'' as: Not partisan; free from party affiliation, [[bias]], or designation. {{cite web | url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nonpartisan | title=Webster: Nonpartisan | access-date=2009-08-13}}</ref>

While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc.,<ref>Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd. ed, partisan</ref> in most cases, nonpartisan refers specifically to political party connections rather than being the strict [[antonym]] of "partisan".<ref>[http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/nonpartisan Cambridge Dictionary - nonpartisan]</ref><ref>[http://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/dictionary/american/nonpartisan Macmillan Dictionary - nonpartisan]</ref><ref>[http://www.thefreedictionary.com/nonpartisan American Heritage Dictionary - nonpartisan<br />Collins English Dictionary - nonpartisan<br />Websters College Dictionary - nonpartisan]</ref>

==Canada==
In Canada, the [[Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories]] and the [[Legislative Assembly of Nunavut]] are the only bodies at the [[Provinces and territories of Canada|provincial/territorial level]] that are currently nonpartisan; they operate on a [[Consensus government in Canada|consensus government]] system. The [[Autonomous administrative division|autonomous]] [[Nunatsiavut Assembly]] operates similarly on a sub-provincial level.

==India==
In [[India]], the [[Jaago Re! One Billion Votes]] campaign was a non-partisan campaign initiated by [[Tata Tea]], and [[Janaagraha]] to encourage citizens to vote in the [[2009 Indian general election]].{{citation needed|date=January 2012}} The campaign was a non-partisan campaign initiated by [[Anal Saha]].

== Philippines ==
In the [[Philippines]], [[barangay elections]] (elections for positions in the [[barangay]] or village) are nonpartisan. The certificates of candidacies, which the candidates sign under oath, say that they are not a member of any political party.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gomez|first=Carla P.|date=2018-04-12|title=Barangay bets warned: Be truthful in declaring party affiliation or face consequences|url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/981978/barangay-bets-warned-be-truthful-in-declaring-party-affiliation-or-face-consequences|access-date=2020-08-09|website=INQUIRER.net|language=en}}</ref> The nonpartisanism of barangay elections have been challenged lately, though, as some candidates are members of political parties.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nalzaro|first=Bobby|date=2018-04-08|title=Barangay and SK elections are partisan|url=https://www.sunstar.com.ph//article/427424/Lifestyle/Barangay-and-SK-elections-are-partisan|access-date=2020-08-09|website=Sunstar|language=en}}</ref>

[[Barangay Captain|Barangay Captains]] and [[Sangguniang Kabataan]] (SK, youth councils) chairmen in a municipality or city elect among themselves their representative to the local legislature. In deadlocked or hung legislatures, votes from the nominally nonpartisan representatives of barangay captains and SK chairmen hold the [[Balance of power (parliament)|balance of power]].

==United States==
{{main|Nonpartisanism in the United States}}
Historian [[Sean Wilentz]] argues that from the days of George Washington's farewell address, to Senator Barack Obama's speech at the Democratic national convention in 2004, politicians have called upon Americans to move beyond parties. Wilentz calls this the post-partisan style, and argues that "the antiparty current is by definition antidemocratic, as political parties have been the only reliable electoral vehicles for advancing the ideas and interests of ordinary voters".<ref>p. 28</ref> However, nonpartisan elections are quite common at the local level, primarily in an effort to keep national issues from being mixed up with local issues.<ref>{{cite book|author=Sean Wilentz|title=The Politicians and the Egalitarians: The Hidden History of American Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MBuZCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT45|year=2016|publisher=W. W. Norton|page=45|isbn=9780393285017}}</ref>

Today, nonpartisan elections are generally held for [[municipal]] and [[county]] offices, especially [[board of education|school board]], and are also common in the election of judges. The [[unicameral]] [[Nebraska State Legislature|Legislature]] of [[Nebraska]] is the only [[U.S. state|state]] legislature that is entirely officially nonpartisan; additionally, the [[bicameral]] [[American Samoa Fono|Fono]] of [[American Samoa]] is the only [[U.S. territory|territorial]] legislature that is officially nonpartisan.

Although elections may be officially nonpartisan, in some elections (usually involving larger cities or counties, as well as the Nebraska unicameral) the party affiliations of candidates are generally known, most commonly by the groups endorsing a particular candidate (e.g., a candidate endorsed by a labor union would be generally affiliated with the Democratic Party, while a candidate endorsed by a business coalition would be generally affiliated with the Republican Party).<ref>{{cite book|author=Steffen Schmidt|title=American Government and Politics Today - Texas Edition, 2007-2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uksP_66HMegC&pg=PA850|year=2007|publisher=Cengage Learning|page=850|isbn=978-0495392026}}</ref>

===Churches and other 501(c)(3) organizations===
Churches and charities in the United States are mainly formed under US [[Internal Revenue Service]] tax code [[501(c)(3)]] non-profit organization regulations. To maintain that [[tax exemption|tax-exempt]] status, and the ability for donors to take a tax deduction, they are required to remain nonpartisan.<ref>[http://www.hbtlj.org/v08p1/v08p1elacquaar.pdf Eyes wide shut: The ambiguous "political activity" prohibition and its effects on 501(c)(3) organizations, Houston Business and Tax Journal], by Amelia Elacqua, 2008, pages 118, 119 and 141, referenced February 16, 2012</ref>

This has caused some to question the ability of organizations that have the appearance of partisanship.

The [[Brookings Institution]] is a Washington, D.C. [[think tank]] and [[501(c)(3)]] non-profit, nonpartisan organization. Since its founding in 1916, it has had both identifiable Republicans and Democrats among its leadership. Owing to leadership changes such as this, some argue that it is a good example of a nonpartisan organization. ''[[The New York Times]]'' has at times listed the organization as being [[Modern liberalism in the United States|liberal]], liberal-centrist, [[centrist]], and [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]].<ref name="NYT">{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/world/americas/16iht-gitmo.1.17859399.html?_r=2 | work=The New York Times | first=William | last=Glaberson | title=Closing Guantánamo may not be easy | date=November 16, 2008}}</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/14/politics/14heritage.html Next Generation of Conservatives (By the Dormful)] by Jason DeParle, ''New York Times'', June 14, 2005</ref><ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9804E4D61F3FF936A25756C0A96F958260 Silicon Valley's New Think Tank Stakes Out 'Radical Center'] by Neil A. Lewis, ''New York Times'', May 15, 1999</ref><ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F06E5D71E3BF937A1575AC0A9669C8B63 ECONOMIC VIEW; Friedman And Keynes, Trading Pedestals] by Tom Redburn, ''New York Times'', September 24, 2000</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/13/nyregion/13ROBINSON.html Marshall A. Robinson, 83, Former Foundation Chief, Dies] by Wolfgang Saxon, ''New York Times'', January 13, 2006</ref> In 2008, ''The New York Times'' published an article where it referred to the "conservative Brookings Institution".<ref name="NYT"/>

===Nonpartisan League===
In the [[Progressive Era]], the [[Nonpartisan League]] was an influential [[socialist]] political movement, especially in the Upper [[Midwest]], particularly during the 1910s and 1920s. It also contributed much to the ideology of the former [[Progressive Party of Canada]]. It went into decline and merged with the Democratic Party of North Dakota to form the [[North Dakota Democratic–Nonpartisan League Party|North Dakota Democratic–NPL Party]] in 1956.

===Milwaukee===
In the [[history of Milwaukee]], the "Nonpartisans" were an unofficial but widely recognized coalition of [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] and [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] who cooperated in an effort to keep Milwaukee's [[Sewer Socialists]] out of as many offices as possible, including in elections which were officially non-partisan, but in which Socialists and "Nonpartisans" were clearly identified in the press.<ref>"School Board Returns Even: Both Nonpartisans and Socialists Pick Five Candidates Each" ''[[Milwaukee Journal]]'' March 18, 1931; p. 1, col. 7</ref> (Such candidates were sometimes called "fusion" candidates.<ref>"Fusion In Many Districts; Old Parties Unite On Legislative Candidates" ''Milwaukee Journal'' November 1, 1918; p. 9, col. 2</ref>) This lasted from the 1910s<ref>Avella, Steven M. ''Milwaukee Catholicism: Essays on Church and Community'' Milwaukee: Milwaukee Knights of Columbus, 1991; pp. 43-44</ref> well into the 1940s. (The similar effort in 1888 to prevent [[Herman Kroeger]]'s election as a [[Labor Party (United States, 19th century)|Union Labor]] candidate had been conducted under the banner of a temporary "Citizen's Party" label.<ref>Wells, Robert W. ''This Is Milwaukee'' New York: Doubleday, 1970; p. 169</ref>) During the period of Socialist-[[Wisconsin Progressive Party|Progressive]] cooperation (1935–1941), the two sides were called "Progressives" and "Nonpartisans".<ref>Cibulka, James G. and Olson, Frederick I. "The Organization of the Milwaukee Public School System" in ''Seeds of Crisis: Public Schooling in Milwaukee since 1920'' Rury, John L. and Cassell, Frank A., eds. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1993; p. 104</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Politics|Political science}}
* [[Apolitical]]
* [[Decline to state]]
* [[Independent politician]]
* [[Independent voter]]
* [[Non-partisan democracy]]

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=jK-0NPoMiYoC&q=Nonpartisan&pg=PA476 |title=Safire's political dictionary |author= William Safire |date=2008-03-31 |isbn=9780195343342 |access-date=2012-01-25 }}
* {{cite book |url = https://archive.org/details/storynonpartisa00russgoog |quote = Nonpartisan. |title=The story of the Nonpartisan League: a chapter in American evolution |year = 1920 |via = [[Internet Archive]] |author= Charles Edward Russell |publisher=Harper & Brothers |access-date=2012-01-25 }}
* {{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=o0XNlQCub1cC&q=Nonpartisan&pg=PA110 |title=Competitive Governments: An Economic Theory of Politics and Public Finance |author= Albert Breton |date=1998-09-28 |isbn=9780521646284 |access-date=2012-01-25 }}
* {{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=23dUzlVxphMC&q=Nonpartisan&pg=PA167 |title=European labor unions |author= Joan Campbell |date=1944-06-03 |isbn=9780313263712 |access-date=2012-01-25 }}
* {{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iIolxT5S3SMC&q=Nonpartisan&pg=PA95 |title=Political parties in Western democracies |author= Leon D. Epstein |year=1980 |isbn=9781412831178 |access-date=2012-01-25 }}

[[Category:Political parties]]
[[Category:Political terminology of the United States]]
[[Category:Political science terminology]]
[[Category:Political terminology]]

Nonpartisanism - Revision history

imported>Beland: {{distinguish|Non-partisan democracy}}