Sangam

A sangam (from cankam, 'assembly, association, confluence', etc.) is a political organization through which most political activity of a country is conducted and coordinated, and in which the statuses, purposes, and relationships of member organizations are formalized. Sangams are 'big-tent' entities encompassing many different actors and parties, as well as interests from across society; they are generally intended to unite political efforts, though not necessarily centralize political activity. In many countries with sangams, any organization intending to participate in politics or governance must be part of or be permitted by the sangam. Sangams may be organized in emergencies such as wartime to strengthen national unity, or be a regular feature of a country's state apparatus.

The term 'sangam' was adopted from Pytarene in the 19th century in Vasarea to refer to the curator assemblies of Pytarus; the curators were highly autonomous actors who had diverse responsibilities, but still submitted to the direction of the Pytarene state. By analogy the term eventually came to be used for any coordinative political organization dominating or commanding the usage of power and influence, especially by political philosophers of the school of formalism; formalists advocated the formation of sangams to remove 'destructive' factionalism and political opacity in Vasarean countries.

Sangams, whether as formal organizations or as informal arrangements between institutions and groups, are recognized to exist in most polities around the world. Formal sangams, such as the Imperial Consociation in Turon, can have tens of millions of members and thousands of affiliated groups.