Cecilia Gowar (asker) Apr 7, 2017:

@Charles It's alright Charles, don't worry!

Charles Davis Apr 7, 2017:

@Cecilia OK. I'm sorry; that was a bit rude. And yes, it was perfectly legitimate. I'll edit one or two of my previous posts, if it's OK with you.

Cecilia Gowar (asker) Apr 7, 2017:

"compactar" I managed to contact the writer and she said she meant the committee would "manage to unify the more than 20 initiatives". So I used "merge".

Cecilia Gowar (asker) Apr 7, 2017:

@Charles I am not "insisting". I just pointed out something I thought was a mistake and you replied with an explanation. In any case, I believe any discussion related to language is valid. Let's leave it at that.

Charles Davis Apr 6, 2017:

Or you can call it a parliamentary party, as Robert says, though that does sound very Westminster, and I think that for the "bancada priista" in Mexico, for example, you would probably say "the PRI group in the Mexican parliament".

Charles Davis Apr 6, 2017:

@Cecilia If you want a term that can only mean a bancada in the strict sense, rather than a cross-party group or a group within a parliamentary party (a caucus), you can call it a party group.

Charles Davis Apr 6, 2017:

@Robert Yes, the PLP is the Labour Party in parliament, i.e. the sum total of labour MPs in parliament. In other words, it is the Labour group in the Commons.

A "group" is not always all the MPs from a single party; there are other groupings of various kinds, such as APPGs (all-party parliamentary groups), and of course things like women's groups within the party groups. These are like caususes. So "political group" can indeed refer to other things besides a parliamentary party, but it certainly can mean that. And it's also applicable to other assemblies, such as councils.

So in the House of Commons you have the "Conservative group", the "Labour group" or the "Liberal Democrat group", and these terms mean all the MPs from each of these parties.

Parliamentary parties in the European Parliament are also called "political groups", by the way.

Cecilia Gowar (asker) Apr 6, 2017:

I agree with Robert. As a matter of fact, there might not be a word for "bancada" in English. At least I cannot think of one!

Robert Carter Apr 6, 2017:

@Charles My understanding is that a political group is similar to what they refer to as a caucus in the US, i.e., a group of politicians within the same party or perhaps in coalition with those of other parties, which is slightly different to my idea of a "bancada", which, as Cecilia says, is an entire parliamentary party bloc. For example, here in Mexico they talk about "la bancada priista, perredista, etc.", when referring to all the members of the PRI, PRD, etc. in the house or the senate.
Wouldn't we normally call them a "parliamentary party", as in the "parliamentary Labour Party", etc?
I'm sure I could quite easily be wrong, as it's been so long since I've taken any interest in UK party politics.

Charles Davis Apr 6, 2017:

@Cecilia Thanks for the clarification. I meant "political group" in the sense you've indicated, a parliamentary group, in the way we speak of the "Conservative group" or the "Labour group" in the House of Commons.

In this sense "political group" is UK parliamentary language. The following refers to the Welsh assembly:

"The provision must secure that, if the membership of a committee is not so determined—
(a) the person appointed to the first place on the committee is an Assembly member belonging to the largest political group"
https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200506/ldbills/1...

Cecilia Gowar (asker) Apr 6, 2017:

Thanks everybody! I agree "consolidate" makes sense. It is along the lines of my original understanding.
I must point out that "bancada" is not a political group but the total number of legislators from the same party:
"la propuesta del Gobierno socialista no tendrá mayoría, a no ser que la bancada del PSD-CDS le dé su apoyo."
http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2015/12/22/act...

Charles Davis Apr 6, 2017:

Central American use of compactar The RAE's Diccionario de americanismos gives "metaf. Unir o juntar cosas o personas para algo" for compactar, in Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador. I think it's a reasonable bet that it applies in Guatemala too. I think this supports Robert's idea.

Here's a usage example from Guatemala:

"La principal dificultad de la UNE es mantener la disciplina partidaria, por lo que el primer desafí­o será la de compactar su bancada."
http://lahora.gt/hemeroteca-lh/campanas-negras-violencia-y-f...

It must mean "unite" here ("bancada" is a political group).

Another political example from Guatemala where the meaning is "unite", I think:

"El reformismo se desmoronó, el PRD no se ha renovado para compactar el voto de capas medias, y las minorías de izquierda persisten en su dogmatismo, divisionismo y personalismo."
http://66.128.53.125/~elcometa/portada/index.php?option=com_...

David Hollywood Apr 6, 2017:

I withdrew my answer but my gut feeling is that it means "agree/approve"