Talk:Conscience vote

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"In the United States, almost all votes could be considered free votes, since parties exercise relatively little control over the votes of individual legislators." How is that true? Senators and representatives very often vote along party lines not only out of loyalty but also because there is an implicit deal that they will get more cooperation by doing so. -- Phyzome is Tim McCormack 03:12, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

That may be true, but the way it works is nonetheless drastically different from the way things work in Westminster systems. In Canada, for example, a member of parliament who votes against his or her party on a whipped vote may get kicked out of the party or otherwise disciplined. MP Bev Desjarlais was removed from her shadow cabinet position because she voted against gay marriage. In the US Congress, that would never happen. Chris Shays votes against his party often, even on on issues like abortion and gun control, but is still a subcommittee chairman (until the Democrats take over, anyway). -- Mwalcoff 03:31, 23 November 2006 (UTC)