A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy. A whip's role is also to ensure that the elected representatives of their party are in attendance when important votes are taken. The usage comes from the hunting term whipping in, i.e. preventing hounds from wandering away from the pack.

The term "whip" is also used to mean:

In the Parliament of Australia, as well as in the parliaments of the five states and two self-governing territories, all political parties have whips to ensure party discipline and carry out a variety of other functions on behalf of the party leadership. The most important function of the whip's office is to ensure that all members and senators are present to take part in votes in the chamber (maintaining quorum and preventing censure motions). Unlike in the United Kingdom, Australian whips do not hold official office, but they are recognised for parliamentary purposes. In practice, Australian whips play a lesser role than their counterparts in the United Kingdom, as party discipline in Australia tends to be tighter.

Steny Hamilton Hoyer (pronounced /ˈstɛni ˈhɔɪ.ər/; born June 14, 1939) is the U.S. Representative for Maryland's 5th congressional district, serving since 1981. The district includes a large swath of rural and suburban territory southeast of Washington, D.C.. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

He was first elected in 1980 and served as the House Majority Leader from 2007 to 2011. He had previously served as House Minority Whip from 2003 to 2007, and was reelected to that post in 2011. These positions make him the second-ranking figure in the House Democratic Leadership hierarchy.

Hoyer grew up in Mitchellville, Maryland, the son of Jean (née Baldwin) and Steen Theilgaard Høyer. His father was Danish and a native of Copenhagen; "Steny" is a variant of his father's name, "Steen", and Hoyer is an anglicized form of the fairly common Danish surname "Høyer". His mother was an American with Scottish, German, and English ancestry. He graduated from Suitland High School in Suitland, Maryland.

Eric Ivan Cantor (pronounced /ˈkæntɚ/; born June 6, 1963) is the U.S. Representative for Virginia's 7th congressional district, serving since 2001. A member of the Republican Party, he became House Majority Leader when the 112th Congress convened on January 3, 2011. He previously served as House Minority Whip from 2009 to 2011.

His district includes most of the northern and western sections of Richmond, along with most of Richmond's western suburbs and portions of the Shenandoah Valley. Cantor is the only Jewish Republican currently serving in the U.S. Congress, and the highest-ranking Jewish member of Congress in its history.

Cantor, the second of three children, was born in Richmond, Virginia, the son of Mary Lee (née Hudes), a schoolteacher, and Eddie Cantor, who owned a real estate firm. His paternal family immigrated from Eastern Europe in the early 1900s and his maternal grandfather was born in Romania. His father was the state treasurer for Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign. Cantor was raised in Conservative Judaism. He graduated from the Collegiate School in 1981. He enrolled at George Washington University (GW) in 1981, and as a freshman he worked as an intern for House Republican Tom Bliley of Virginia and was Bliley's driver in the 1982 campaign. Cantor was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity while at GW and received his Bachelor of Arts in 1985 He earned a Juris Doctor degree from William & Mary Law School in 1988, and received a Master of Science in Real Estate Development from Columbia University in 1989.

Joe Linus Barton (born September 15, 1949) is a Republican politician, representing Texas's 6th congressional district (map) in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1985, and a member of the Tea Party Caucus. The district includes Arlington, part of Fort Worth and several rural areas south of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

Barton was born in Waco, Texas, the son of Bess Wynell (née Buice) and Larry Linus Barton. He graduated from Waco High School. He attended Texas A&M University in College Station on a Gifford-Hill Opportunity Award scholarship and received a B.S. in industrial engineering in 1972. An M.Sc. in industrial administration from Purdue University followed in 1973. Following college Barton entered private industry until 1981 when he became a White House Fellow and served under United States Secretary of Energy James B. Edwards. Later, he began consulting for Atlantic Richfield Oil and Gas Co. before being elected to the United States Congress in 1984.

Barton made his first run for elected office in 1984, when he entered the Republican primary for Texas's 6th congressional district after six-term incumbent Phil Gramm left his seat to run for the United States Senate that year. He finished first in the five-candidate field (42%) and very narrowly defeated Max Hoyt in the runoff (50%). He then defeated Democratic nominee and former State Representative Dan Kubiak 57%-43%. Barton was one of six freshmen Republican U.S. congressmen elected from Texas in 1984 known as the Texas Six Pack.

Ray Rapp is a Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the state's one hundred eighteenth House district, including constituents in Haywood, Madison and Yancey counties. He is currently a Minority Whip. A college administrator from Mars Hill, North Carolina, Rapp is currently (2009-2010 session) serving in his fourth term in the state House. Rapp is a former Mayor of the town of Mars Hill.