Talk:Constituency

As of March 2, 2005 the list of places with constituencies is incomplete. --Theo (Talk) 10:08, 2 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Might I suggest this article be moved to electoral district? As the lead of the article indicates, there are more meanings of the term constituency (such as the people within a district, or a particular group of supporters), however the term electoral district is entirely unambiguous. Scott Ritchie 22:51, 18 December 2005 (UTC)Reply

Thoughts?

Oppose. Electoral district may be used in the US but it is not used worldwide. Constituency is. FearÉIREANN \^(caint) 23:19, 18 December 2005 (UTC)Reply

Electoral district is not just used in the United States. It's a term used generically in the political science literature as well, and many foreign terms (eg the French) translate into it. Prominence of the term is not why I suggested the move, however: it's to avoid ambiguity. Where do you suggest we put articles for the other uses of constituency, such as the people of an electoral district, or the subgroup of a representative's "core" supporters? Scott Ritchie 00:02, 19 December 2005 (UTC)Reply

Why electoral district? Why not electoral area? Or electoral region? Laurel Bush 14:44, 19 December 2005 (UTC).Reply

Because "district" is the term actually used in the US, Canada, and most of the political science literature. "Area" and "region" aren't. Scott Ritchie 21:12, 19 December 2005 (UTC)Reply

Oppose per the above. Constituency is unambigous; electoral blump isn't.   ナイトスタリオン ✉ 15:29, 19 December 2005 (UTC)Reply

How is it unambiguous? It seems like you're unaware of the other uses of the word constituency. It wouldn't surprise me if the usage of "constiuency" to describe "a group of constituents" hasn't crept into Commonwealth English like it has in American English, precisely because in Commonwealth English the word refers to electoral districts. This isn't the case across the pond: Dictionary.com, for instance, gives these definitions for constituency: [1]

1. 1. The body of voters or the residents of a district represented by an elected legislator or official.
   2. The district so represented.
2. 1. A group of supporters or patrons.
   2. A group served by an organization or institution; a clientele: The magazine changed its format to appeal to a broader constituency.

It seems like only the second definition refers to electoral districts. By the first, third, and fourth definitions listed constituency could refer to something else that's deserving of an article. Scott Ritchie 21:12, 19 December 2005 (UTC)Reply

Support, not least because there are now at least three kinds of electoral division in the UK: wards, constituencies and electoral regions (the latter used in conjunction with constituencies to produce a form of proportional representation). Laurel Bush 17:22, 11 July 2006 (UTC).Reply

• I must say that I object to Jtdirl's comment that "constituency" is used all the way round the world. "Electoral division" is the official term in Australia, and "electorate", "seat" and "electoral district" are definitely also used. "Constituency" is one I'm unfamiliar with, and the meanings I'd associate with it are the body of voters/group of supportors/clientele meanings above. So it can be seen that "Constituency is not a term used worldwide", and "electoral district" is much less ambiguous. Ergo, I'd vote support if it weren't for the fact that I'm much, much too late :) —Felix the Cassowary 12:14, 2 August 2006 (UTC)Reply

It's been over two years since the above proposal, and not much growth has happened with this article. The usage of constituency as the population represented really does deserve its own article, and I can't think of any better place to put it than here.

I've gone ahead and made a bold edit, moving what there was of content to electoral district as well as creating a lot of new content there. The list of "places with constituencies" is now at list of electoral districts by nation. I feel like electoral district is a better place for that portion of the article for much of the same reasons as above, namely:

• Electoral district unambiguously refers to the area.
• Electoral district is the academic term used in political science literature.
• People who use the term constituency to refer to districts understand what electoral district means; the converse isn't true since many understand constituency to refer to a group of people.
• Both constituency (as people) and electoral district are deserving of articles, and it would be awkward to place them both here or under some disambig namespace like constituency (people).
• Wikipedia policy on National Varieties of English suggests:Use an unambiguous word or phrase in preference to one that is ambiguous because of national differences. For example, use alternative route (or even other route) rather than alternate route, since alternate may mean only "alternating" to a British English speaker.

I've commented out the interwiki links due to the split, as some may refer to people and some may refer to districts. Please add them back in (either here or at electoral district) once confirmed. Apologies in advance if I've stepped on any toes. Scott Ritchie (talk) 21:52, 10 September 2008 (UTC)Reply

There should be a merger, or at least importation of content, from this section of the constituent article: Constituent_(politics)#Inhabitants_of_constituencies Scott Ritchie (talk) 21:03, 6 October 2008 (UTC)Reply