Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2020 September 21

= September 21 =

Branch stacking
This article refers to the Australian term for a political maneuver where a cadre attempts to force an outcome by enlisting outsiders as new members. This tactic is of course not limited to Australia, nor to politics. I'm thinking of a church congregation and attempts to oust the minister, but parallels surely abound. Is there a more general or universal term? "Rent-a-crowd" doesn't quite fit the bill. Doug butler (talk) 21:46, 21 September 2020 (UTC)


 * Wikipedia calls it "Canvassing"... AnonMoos (talk) 22:40, 21 September 2020 (UTC)
 * Very similar. Thanks. Doug butler (talk) 03:58, 22 September 2020 (UTC)
 * When Franklin D. Roosevelt didn't like the Supreme Court he had, he tried (and failed at) "court packing", i.e. increasing the number of justices. Clarityfiend (talk) 06:55, 22 September 2020 (UTC)
 * The Canadian constitution provides for extra senators to be appointed beyond the usual number. The Mulroney government did this to pass the GST, and I believe the term "packing" was also used then.  But this is not quite the same thing that Doug asked about. --174.89.48.182 (talk) 20:54, 22 September 2020 (UTC)
 * William IV threatened to create as many new peers as necessary for the House of Lords to pass the reform act (see Reform Act 1832)... AnonMoos (talk) 22:34, 23 September 2020 (UTC)


 * Although it's not mentioned in the article, this Australian understands that branch stacking here is a bit nastier than described above. Most of the new members signed up rarely end up attending branch meetings and actively voting on issues. Having signed up all the new members, the "stacker" obtains the right to use the votes of the new members through proxy voting forms, pushing through their own agenda with the help of people who have no idea what's really going on. I would be surprised if this was a purely Australian phenomenon. HiLo48 (talk) 23:49, 22 September 2020 (UTC)
 * Our article on Entryism say "Today, the practice [of Entryism] in Australia is often known as a type of branch stacking." They're similar enough that I'll put Canvassing and Entryism in the see also for Branch stacking.John Z (talk) 02:42, 27 September 2020 (UTC)