CONGRESS

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In politics, Congress ("a gathering of people") is the name of the main legislative body in a state that operates under a congressional system of government. In non-political usage congress is a term applied to a large grouping of people meeting together with common interests or concerns.

Political congress

Legislative congress

A congress is different from a parliament (Westminster System of Government) in that legislative initiative is vested into it. In a congressional system the executive and legislative branches of government are clearly differentiated. Head of State (president) and Head of Government (prime minister) are typically merged into one office, and cabinet members are only rarely taken from the congress.

Countries with Congresses:

• The United States Congress heads the constitutional legislative branch of the United States federal government
• The Congress of the Philippines (Filipino: Kongreso ng Pilipinas) is the legislative branch of the Philippine government.
• The National Congress of Brazil (Portuguese: Congresso Nacional) is Brazil's legislature.
• The National Congress of Ecuador is the unicameral legislature of Ecuador

In France, the congrès is a formal and exceptional joint meeting of both houses of Parliament in order to ratify an amendment to the Constitution.

The legislature of the People's Republic of China is known in English as the National People's Congress. The PRC is nevertheless not a congressional system.

Political party

Congress is included in the name of several political parties, especially those in former British colonies:

• The People's National Congress of Guyana
• The Indian National Congress of India
• The Nationalist Congress Party of India
• The Nationalist Trinamool Congress of India
• The Tamil Maanila Congress of India
• The Basotho Congress Party of Lesotho
• The Lesotho Congress for Democracy of Lesotho
• The Lesotho Peoples' Congress of Lesotho
• The Malawi Congress Party of Malawi
• The Malaysian Indian Congress of Malaysia
• The Congress of Democrats of Namibia
• The Nepali Congress of Nepal
• The All People's Congress of Sierra Leone
• The African National Congress of South Africa
• The Pan-Africanist Congress of South Africa
• The All Ceylon Tamil Congress of Sri Lanka
• The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress of Sri Lanka
• The Ngwane National Liberatory Congress of Swaziland
• The United National Congress of Trinidad and Tobago
• The Ugandan People's Congress of Uganda

Political gatherings

Congress has also been used to describe certain historical gatherings, such as

• The Congress of Vienna

It has been used for meetings of independence-minded nationalists or revolutionaries:

• The United States Continental Congress
• The Indian National Congress
• The Iraqi National Congress

(Note, the political parties mentioned above also began as groups of this type)

Congress is also part of the name of certain international bodies, such as

• The Congress of the Council of Europe.

Party congress

Many political parties also have a Party Congress which is held every few years to make decisions for the party and elected governing bodies. These are sometimes called political conventions.

Non-political congress

Scientific congress

Congress is an alternative name for a large national or international academic conference.

Chess congress

A Chess congress is a chess tournament, in one city, where a large number of contestants gather to play competitive chess over a limited period of time; typically one day to one week.

See also

• List of democracy and elections-related topics
• Congressional Country Club
• Doctor's Guide Congress Resource Center