Caucuses

Caucuses are organized blocs of NPPs (non-player politicians) within a party that share an agenda, ideology, or factional alignment. The caucus health system tracks how stable a caucus is by monitoring member churn, election status, and at-risk NPP retention over a rolling window.

Caucus Health Snapshot

The caucus health snapshot is a per-caucus diagnostic that answers one question: is this caucus about to fall apart? It combines several signals into a single health label.

Churn Tracking

The snapshot tracks churn — the rate at which members enter and leave the caucus. Three churn event types are counted:

Event	Description
`join`	An NPP joined the caucus
`leave`	An NPP left voluntarily
`forced_exit`	An NPP was removed against their will

Churn is measured over a recent window of 12 turns. High churn in that window is a warning sign; low churn indicates stability.

Election Status

The snapshot includes the caucus's election status — whether the caucus is currently involved in an internal election (e.g., leadership contest) or is in a stable non-election period. Active elections can temporarily destabilize a caucus even if churn is low.

At-Risk NPP Retention

The most important diagnostic is the at-risk member list. The snapshot identifies NPPs who are at risk of leaving the caucus and labels them by severity.

Constants

Constant	Value	Description
Recent window	12 turns	The rolling window over which churn is measured
Warning buffer	10	Buffer applied before flagging a member as at-risk
`CAUCUS_NPP_RETENTION_MIN_RELATIONSHIP`	From `partyOrg` constants	Minimum relationship with the chair required for an NPP to remain in the caucus

Health Labels

Each caucus is assigned one of three health labels:

Label	Meaning
Healthy	Low churn, no at-risk members, stable elections
Strained	Moderate churn or some at-risk members
Fragile	High churn, multiple critical-risk members, or active destabilizing elections

At-Risk Members

For each at-risk NPP, the snapshot records:

Field	Description
`relationshipWithChair`	The NPP's current relationship with the caucus chair
`gapFromExit`	How far the NPP is from the exit threshold (negative = already past it)
`exitRiskLabel	Severity label: `Critical`, `Elevated`, or `Watch`

Exit Risk Labels

Label	Meaning
`Critical`	The NPP is at or past the exit threshold — departure is imminent
`Elevated`	The NPP is close to the exit threshold and trending poorly
`Watch`	The NPP is worth monitoring but not yet in danger

The warning buffer of 10 is applied when computing these labels — it provides a margin so that a member is not flagged as Critical the instant their relationship dips below the threshold, giving the chair time to intervene.

Whip Defiance Snapshot

The caucus health snapshot is integrated with the whip defiance system. When a whip is issued and NPPs defy it, those defiance events feed into the at-risk assessment. An NPP who repeatedly defies the whip is likely to appear in the at-risk list with an elevated or critical risk label, even if their raw relationship with the chair is still positive.

This integration means the health snapshot reflects not just relationship numbers but actual behavioral signals — whether members are voting with the caucus or against it.

Strategic Notes

Watch the 12-turn window. A sudden spike in forced_exit events is the earliest sign of caucus fragmentation.
Relationship with the chair is the key variable. Most at-risk members are flagged because their relationshipWithChair has fallen below or near CAUCUS_NPP_RETENTION_MIN_RELATIONSHIP. Use Political Capital actions (especially private meetings) to repair relationships before members leave.
Whip defiance is a leading indicator. If members start defying whips, expect the at-risk list to grow. Address the underlying policy disagreement before it becomes a departure.
Elections destabilize. Even a healthy caucus can show a Strained label during a leadership contest. This is usually temporary.

Political Capital — How to repair relationships with at-risk NPPs
Voting and Whips — How whip defiance is tracked
Party Organization — How caucuses fit into the broader party structure
NPP Behavior — What drives NPP relationship changes