<P> In countries influenced by the British political system, a whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature . Whips are the party's "enforcers"; they invite their fellow legislators to attend voting sessions and to vote according to the official party policy . The term is taken from the "whipper - in" during a hunt, who tries to prevent the hounds from wandering away from the pack . </P> <P> Additionally the term "whip" may also mean the voting instructions issued to members by the whip, or the status of a certain legislator in their party's parliamentary grouping . </P> <P> The expression whip in its parliamentary context has its origins in hunting terminology . The Oxford English Dictionary defines the term whipper - in as, "a huntsman's assistant who keeps the hounds from straying by driving them back with the whip into the main body of the pack". According to that dictionary, the first recorded use of the term whipper - in in the parliamentary sense occurs in 1772 . However, P.D.G. Thomas in House of Commons in the Eighteenth Century cites two examples of the use of the term that pre-date 1772 . </P>

What are party whips in congress and how did they influence legislation