What is American English for "cross-party"?

I came across the word 'cross-party' while reading the newspaper. I didn't know this word so I looked it up in a dictionary. (Denoting interaction between two or more political parties).

I noticed that I didn't find this word in an AmE dictionary, it only seems to exist in BrE. I have done an advanced search in google and it is almost never used on CNN (3.000 results in 0,46 sec), but BBC seems to use it quite often (45000 results in 0,46 sec).

Now my question is next: Is there a synonym for this word in AmE?

Solution 1:

In the US, the term bipartisan is often used, as most politicians identify with either the Republican or the Democratic party. This is opposed to, for example, the UK, where it is sometimes said that there are two-and-half parties, with the Liberal Democrats, Labour, and Conservative party.

EDIT: Additionally, as pointed out in the comments, the Scottish National Party is now the third largest party in the Commons.

According to the OD

the term cross-party does not compete very effectively with the default term bipartisan

So, as a simple answer to your question, no, there is not a simple, widely used term, as the government in America is still mostly divided in two (which makes bipartisan the easy and most effective term to describe the dichotomic nature of American politics.

Solution 2:

Cross-party means:

Involving or relating to two or more political parties: a cross-party committee of MPs.

In the UK political system, there are multiple parties, 11 of which have Members of Parliament, UK House of Commons. This might be the reason why "cross-party" is used in the U.K.

[Wikipedia]

However, in the US political system, there have been only 2 major parties in its recent history, the Republican Party and Democratic Party. There were some small parties, but they were not strong enough to exert any influence on policy-making. In the House of Representatives, only two major parties are holding seats. That's why bipartisan is used in the U.S. which means:

Of or involving the agreement or cooperation of two political parties that usually oppose each other’s policies: the reforms received considerable bipartisan approval

[Oxford Online Dictionary]

Solution 3:

A search for cross-party alliances shows that the term cross-party is widely used in American English.

P.S. You won't always find such words in a dictionary because they are formed by analogy, cross being a productive first element; e.g. cross-database, cross-pollination, cross-town, cross-language, cross-connection, cross-traffic ...

Solution 4:

I have heard this mostly used in the sphere of international relations, but one word you might consider is "multipolar". This sense of the word is defined by Merriam-Webster as "characterized by more than two centers of power or interest".

Solution 5:

I'd suggest interparty Ngram (AmEng)

: between political parties. Origin inter- +‎ party Your Dictionary

Throughout the 1960s, however, Nelson Rockefeller and the state GOP blocked this interparty alliance, despite the objections of some county GOP organizations. New York State and the Rise of Modern Conservatism: Redrawing Party Lines

... yet were unwilling (because of the party principle) to reach across the aisle to form an interparty coalition ... Fighting for the Speakership: the House and the Rise of Party Government