paragraph_text: A two - party system is a party system where two major political parties dominate the government. One of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referred to as the majority or governing party while the other is the minority or opposition party. Around the world, the term has different senses. For example, in the United States, Jamaica, and Malta, the sense of two party system describes an arrangement in which all or nearly all elected officials belong to one of the only two major parties, and third parties rarely win any seats in the legislature. In such arrangements, two - party systems are thought to result from various factors like winner takes all election rules. In such systems, while chances for third party candidates winning election to major national office are remote, it is possible for groups within the larger parties, or in opposition to one or both of them, to exert influence on the two major parties. In contrast, in the United Kingdom and Australia and in other parliamentary systems and elsewhere, the term two - party system is sometimes used to indicate an arrangement in which two major parties dominate elections but in which there are viable third parties which do win seats in the legislature, and in which the two major parties exert proportionately greater influence than their percentage of votes would suggest.

paragraph_text: Republicans regained control of the chamber they had lost in the 2006 midterm elections, picking up a net total of 63 seats and erasing the gains Democrats made in 2006 and 2008. Although the sitting U.S. President's party usually loses seats in a midterm election, the 2010 election resulted in the highest loss of a party in a House midterm election since 1938, and the largest House swing since 1948. This also happened to be the Republicans' largest gain in House seats since 1938. Republicans gained the most in New York state where they picked up six seats, defeating five incumbents and winning an open Democratic district. The heavy Democratic Party losses were attributed to anger with President Obama, opposition to the Affordable Care Act, large budget deficits and the weak economy. This was also the third consecutive midterm election in a president's first term where the Republican Party has made gains in the House of Representatives, as well as the second consecutive midterm election where party control of the said chamber changed hands. Notable freshmen included future Senators Cory Gardner, Todd Young, James Lankford, and Tim Scott, future Governor of Delaware John Carney, future Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney, future Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, future Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas Tim Griffin, and future Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry.

paragraph_text: The style and role of any minority leader is influenced by a variety of elements, including personality and contextual factors, such as the size and cohesion of the minority party, whether his or her party controls the White House, the general political climate in the House, and the controversy that is sometimes associated with the legislative agenda. Despite the variability of these factors, there are a number of institutional obligations associated with this position. Many of these assignments or roles are spelled out in the House rule book. Others have devolved upon the position in other ways. To be sure, the minority leader is provided with extra staff resources—beyond those accorded him or her as a Representative—to assist in carrying out diverse leadership functions. Worth emphasis is that there are limits on the institutional role of the minority leader, because the majority party exercises disproportionate influence over the agenda, partisan ratios on committees, staff resources, administrative operations, and the day-to-day schedule and management of floor activities.

paragraph_text: The National Woman's Party, like the Congressional Union, was under the leadership of Alice Paul, who learned from militant suffragettes in Britain who used a variety of tactics to gain publicity for the cause of suffrage. Paul's strategy was to use publicity to hold the party in power, the Democratic Party and President Woodrow Wilson, responsible for the status of woman suffrage. Starting in January 1917, NWP members known as Silent Sentinels continued their quest for equality by protesting outside the White House.

paragraph_text: The One Hundred Fourteenth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 2015, to January 3, 2017, during the final two full years of Barack Obama's presidency. The 2014 elections gave the Republicans control of the Senate (and control of both houses of Congress) for the first time since the 109th Congress. With 248 seats in the House of Representatives and 54 seats in the Senate, this Congress began with the largest Republican majority since the 71st Congress of 1929 -- 1931.

paragraph_text: The Senate is currently composed of 51 Republicans, 47 Democrats, and 2 independents, both of whom caucus with the Democrats.

paragraph_text: Starting with Republican Nicholas Longworth in 1925, and continued through the Democrats' control of the House from 1931 to 1995, save for Republican majorities in 1947–49 and 1953–55, all majority leaders have directly ascended to the Speakership brought upon by the retirement of the incumbent. The only exceptions during this period were Charles A. Halleck who became Republican House leader and Minority Leader from 1959 to 1965, Hale Boggs who died in a plane crash, and Dick Gephardt who became the Democrats' House leader but as Minority Leader since his party lost control in the 1994 midterm elections. Since 1995, the only Majority Leader to become Speaker is John Boehner, though indirectly as his party lost control in the 2006 midterms elections. He subsequently served as Republican House leader and Minority Leader from 2007 to 2011 and then was elected Speaker when the House reconvened in 2011. In 1998, with Speaker Newt Gingrich announcing his resignation, both Majority Leader Dick Armey and Majority Whip Tom DeLay did not contest the Speakership which eventually went to Chief Deputy Whip Dennis Hastert.

paragraph_text: At the same time, the political party reached its modern form, with a membership disciplined through the use of a party whip and the implementation of efficient structures of control. The Home Rule League Party, campaigning for Home Rule for Ireland in the British Parliament was fundamentally changed by the great Irish political leader Charles Stewart Parnell in the 1880s. In 1882, he changed his party's name to the Irish Parliamentary Party and created a well-organized grass roots structure, introducing membership to replace "ad hoc" informal groupings. He created a new selection procedure to ensure the professional selection of party candidates committed to taking their seats, and in 1884 he imposed a firm 'party pledge' which obliged MPs to vote as a bloc in parliament on all occasions. The creation of a strict party whip and a formal party structure was unique at the time. His party's efficient structure and control contrasted with the loose rules and flexible informality found in the main British parties; – they soon came to model themselves on the Parnellite model.

paragraph_text: In the United Kingdom, Parliament consists of the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and the Monarch. The House of Commons is composed of 650 (soon to be 600) members who are directly elected by British citizens to represent single - member constituencies. The leader of a Party that wins more than half the seats, or less than half but is able to gain the support of smaller parties to achieve a majority in the house is invited by the Monarch to form a government. The House of Lords is a body of long - serving, unelected members: Lords Temporal - 92 of whom inherit their titles (and of whom 90 are elected internally by members of the House to lifetime seats), 588 of whom have been appointed to lifetime seats, and Lords Spiritual - 26 bishops, who are part of the house while they remain in office.

paragraph_text: The Standing Rules of the Senate are the parliamentary procedures adopted by the United States Senate that govern its procedure. The Senate's power to establish rules derives from Article One, Section 5 of the United States Constitution: ``Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings... ''

paragraph_text: Going into these elections, the Senate consisted of 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and two Independents who caucused with the Democrats, giving the Democratic caucus the slightest 51 - 49 majority. Of the seats up for election in 2008, 23 were held by Republicans and 12 by Democrats. The Republicans, who openly conceded early on that they would n't be able to regain the majority in 2008, lost eight seats. This election was the second cycle in a row in which no seats switched from Democratic to Republican. In addition, this was the largest Democratic Senate gain since 1986, when they also won eight seats. These elections marked the first time since 1964 in which a Democratic presidential candidate won the White House with Senate coattails. Finally, 2008 was the first presidential election year since 1948 in which Senate Class 2 saw net gains for the winning presidential candidate's party.

paragraph_text: The Senate Majority and Minority Leaders are two United States Senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. These leaders serve as the chief Senate spokespeople for the political parties respectively holding the majority and the minority in the United States Senate, and manage and schedule the legislative and executive business of the Senate. They are elected to their positions in the Senate by their respective party caucuses, the Senate Democratic Caucus and the Senate Republican Conference.

paragraph_text: The National Assembly of Pakistan (Urdu: قومی اسمبلئ پاکستان ‬ ‎) is the lower house of the bicameral Majlis - e-Shura, which also comprises the President of Pakistan and Senate of Pakistan (upper house). The National Assembly and the Senate both convene at Parliament House in Islamabad. The National Assembly is a democratically elected body consisting of a total of 342 members who are referred to as Members of the National Assembly (MNAs), of which 272 are directly elected members and 70 reserved seats for women and religious minorities. A political party must secure 137 seats to obtain and preserve a majority.

paragraph_text: The current Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, of the United States House of Representatives serves as floor leader of the opposition party, and is the counterpart to the Majority Leader. Unlike the Majority Leader, the Minority Leader is on the ballot for Speaker of the House during the convening of the Congress. If the Minority Leader's party takes control of the House, and the party officers are all re-elected to their seats, the Minority Leader is usually the party's top choice for Speaker for the next Congress, while the Minority Whip is typically in line to become Majority Leader. The Minority Leader usually meets with the Majority Leader and the Speaker to discuss agreements on controversial issues.

paragraph_text: In the United States House of Representatives, the majority leader is elected by U.S. Congressmen in the political party holding the largest number of seats in the House. While the responsibilities vary depending upon the political climate, the Majority Leader of the United States House of Representatives typically sets the floor agenda and oversees the committee chairmen.

paragraph_text: The Constitution designates the Vice President of the United States as President of the United States Senate. The Constitution also calls for a President pro tempore to serve as the leader of the body when the President of the Senate (the Vice President) is absent. In practice, neither the Vice President nor the President pro tempore -- customarily the most senior (longest - serving) Senator in the majority party -- actually presides over the Senate on a daily basis; that task is given to junior Senators of the majority party. Since the Vice President may be of a different party than the majority and is not a member subject to discipline, the rules of procedure of the Senate give the presiding officer very little power and none beyond the presiding role. For these reasons, it is the Majority Leader who, in practice, manages the Senate. This is in contrast to the House of Representatives where the elected Speaker of the House has a great deal of discretionary power and generally presides over votes on bills.

paragraph_text: The Democratic Party controlled a majority in both chambers for the first time since the end of the 103rd Congress in 1995. Although the Democrats held fewer than 50 Senate seats, they had an operational majority because the two independent senators caucused with the Democrats for organizational purposes. No Democratic - held seats had fallen to the Republican Party in the 2006 elections. Democrat Nancy Pelosi became the first woman Speaker of the House. The House also received the first Muslim (Keith Ellison) and Buddhist (Hank Johnson and Mazie Hirono) members of Congress.

paragraph_text: The Democratic Party of Oregon, based in Portland, is the official Oregon affiliate of the United States Democratic Party. It is recognized by the state of Oregon as a major political party, along with the Oregon Republican Party. The State Central Committee, made up of two delegates elected from each of Oregon's 36 counties and one additional delegate for every 15,000 registered Democrats, is the main authoritative body of the party. After Oregon was admitted into the Union in 1859, the Democratic party controlled the state. Oregon elected twice as many Democrats as Republicans between 1859 and 1879 in statewide elections for governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, and congressmen. The party holds 38 members in the State House that has 60 representatives total, and 18 members in the State Senate, out of 30 delegates total. The party also holds the Governor's office (Kate Brown), Attorney General (Ellen Rosenblum), Labor Commissioner (Val Hoyle), and State Treasurer (Tobias Read). The Democrats also have both U.S senate positions in their state and send four of the five U.S House representatives from Oregon to D.C.

paragraph_text: The Rajya Sabha (meaning the ``Council of States '') is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Uttar Pradesh state elects 31 members and they are indirectly elected by the state legislators of Uttar Pradesh. Members are elected for six years and 1 / 3 of members are retired after every two years. The number of seats, allocated to the party, are determined by the number of seats a party possesses during nomination and the party nominates a member to be voted on. Elections within the state legislatures are held using Single transferable vote with proportional representation.

paragraph_text: However, at the state level, the pattern of split ticket voting and divided government holds. Democrats currently hold one of the state's U.S. Senate seats, as well as four of the five statewide offices (Governor, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Secretary of State and State Auditor). The lone congressional district has been Republican since 1996 and in 2014 Steve Daines won one of the state's Senate seats for the GOP. The Legislative branch had split party control between the house and senate most years between 2004 and 2010, when the mid-term elections returned both branches to Republican control. The state Senate is, as of 2015, controlled by the Republicans 29 to 21, and the State House of Representatives at 59 to 41.

Question: When did the majority party in the body which determines the rules of the US House and US Senate gain control of the House?
Answer: the 2010 election