CONSTITUTION and BY-LAWS of the RADICAL PHILOSOPHY ASSOCIATION (RPA)
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Constitution
Adopted by vote of the Association at the Loyola, Chicago meeting, November
3, 2000.
Article I. Purpose: The purpose of the RPA is to foster the discussion of
diverse currents of radical, critical philosophical thinking in the United
States and worldwide, and to provide support for initiatives to implement
such thinking along lines agreed to by a consensus of the membership.
Article II. Membership: Any person sympathetic to the Association's
purposes is welcome to become a member.
Article III. Officers and Committees.
Article III A. The officers shall be a Coordinator (or two joint
Coordinators) a secretary, a Treasurer, and SIX members of an Advisory
Committee. Three of these committee members shall be the chairs of the
three regional planning committees -- Eastern, Central, and Pacific. The
remaining three members of the advisory committee will be elected from candidates that present themselves to the membership at the national
meetings. If there is more than one chair of each divisional planning
committee then one person will be elected as the divisional representative
to the advisory committee. Racial and gender balance shall be an important
desideratum within the Officers and Advisory Committee; accordingly, the
Coordinator(s) will be expected to strive to encourage the achievement of
such balance by canvassing the membership for suitable Advisory Committee
candidates so as to permit the Committee to consist of as close to at least
one-half women and one-third minority group members as feasible. Unless
specifically stipulated, the term "advisory committee" shall be used in the
remainder of this document to refer jointly to the coordinator(s),
secretary, treasurer, and the six members of the advisory committee.
Article III B. The terms of office of Advisory Committee members, and the
Coordinator(s), Secretary, and Treasurer shall be for four years, renewable.
Article III C. The Association at its biannual national meeting shall vote
on candidates for available advisory committee positions, or for the jobs
of Coordinator(s), Secretary, or Treasurer. where only one candidate is
elect the nominated candidate for the position. In all cases in which more
than one candidate is nominated and seconded, a plurality vote by mail
ballot of all dues-paying members will decide between or among them. If no
national meeting is held after two years time then elections will be held
at the membership's business meeting at the eastern division of the APA.
Article III D. The Coordinator(s) shall have general charge of the affairs
of the Association. The Coordinator(s) shall consult, in person or by
telephonic, electronic, or postal communication, with the other Advisory
Board members on any policy matters that the latter deem significant, and
shall attempt to reach a consensus and to act upon it. The Coordinator(s)
shall hold a formal meeting with the Advisory Committee members at the
Association's biannual national meeting.
Article III E. The Treasurer shall receive the Association's funds and
disburse them as authorized by the Coordinator(s) and members of the
Advisory Committee, recording all financial transactions and reporting
them. Periodically to the Advisory Committee and annually to the
Association.
ARTICLE III F. The Secretary shall keep the membership lists of the
association up to date, oversee the production of the annual membership
directory, keep a record of changes to the constitution and other
documents pertinent to the work of the society, and keep a record of the
agendas the biannual national business meetings.
Article III G. Regional planning committee chairs and their committees
shall be charged with planning RPA programs for their respective APA
divisional meetings and with communicating with the secretaries of the
respective APA divisions to this effect.
Article III H. Unless otherwise stipulated, the committee is empowered to
make decisions on behalf of the society between national meetings of the
association. Advisory committee decisions shall be made by majority vote.
Any member of the committee may propose a motion to be decided by the
committee. At any time, any member in good standing of the RPA may propose
a motion to the advisory committee for a vote. The Advisory Committee may
also decide to submit a matter of business which is not otherwise covered
in this constitution to a poll of the membership in the interval between
biannual national meetings, or, where possible, defer an issue to be
decided for a vote at a national meeting. A majority of committee members
must decide that the matter of business is of sufficient importance to
justify an association wide decision. Any member may challenge a decision
of the advisory committee at the business meeting of the national meetings
of the association (see below) by presenting a petition of 10% or more of
dues paying members at the national meeting. Overturning an advisory
committee decision requires a simple majority vote of the membership.
Article III I. Should an interim vacancy on the Advisory Committee between
biannual meetings, the remaining members of the Committee shall canvas the
membership, to the extent to which this is feasible, and choose a
replacement to serve until the next biannual meeting. At that time, a
candidate shall be selected to fill out the unexpired portion of the term
of the position in which the vacancy occurred, in accordance with the
procedures specified in Article III C above.
Article III J. The advisory committee members will encourage and provide
official sanction to project committees of the RPA. The purpose of such
committees will include organization of publications and support mechanisms
for the RPA (e.g., the associations' journal and newsletter) as well as
coordinate the association's efforts on particular issues. Project
committees deemed necessary for the day to day operation of organization
shall be listed in the by-laws. The chair of each of these committees
shall be elected by the membership of each project committee. Each project
committee shall hold an election for its chair every four years and only
members of project committees (those who regularly take part in the
activities of a given project committee) are eligible to vote in the
election of their committee's chair. Any ties in elections shall be
referred to the advisory committee for resolution. Any disputes over
members of a project committee eligible to vote shall be referred to the
officers and advisory committee for resolution. The chair of each of these
committees shall be expected to canvas the Association membership for
volunteers to collaborate with her/him and constitute the committee. The
total membership of each committee should normally range from 3 to 10, with
racial and gender balance being maintained as far as is feasible. Each
chair will be expected, on behalf of his/her committee, to submit an annual
report of its activities, to be published in an issue of the Newsletter or
other RPA publication. Project committee chairs may be elected to also
serve as members of the national advisory committee. Separation of a
project committee from the RPA shall require a majority vote to that effect
both at the biannual national meeting and in a subsequent mail ballot of
dues-paying members. When proposals are made for adding new Project
Committees to the Association, these shall be subject to ratification by
the Advisory Committee. ad hoc groups within the association, such as a
group of more senior members volunteering to assist graduate student
members in job searches or in publishing, may also receive official
endorsement from the Advisory Committee, and the committee is free to waive
project committee requirements for such groups, such as the necessity for
regular elections, etc.
Article IV. The Conduct of Business.
Article IV A. The biannual national meetings shall consist of the
presentations of papers and comments and of discussions of general
questions of relevance to the Association, together with at least one
session designated as a "national business meeting," chaired by the RPA
coordinator(s). The business meeting will include, whenever possible, a
report from the coordinator concerning the current state of the
association, a treasurer's report, and reports from all RPA project
committees. elections will also be held at this meeting. Association
policy issues deemed important either by the Advisory Committee itself or
by petition of 10% or more of dues-paying members -- including possible
revision(s) of this constitution -- shall be debated and, if necessary,
voted upon. In such cases, and when there is a substantial division of
opinion among members present at the business meeting, a mail ballot shall
be prepared to be submitted to dues-paying members, with arguments for the
various positions being summarized and sent with the mailing, except in
cases in which a majority of those present at the business meeting certify
that immediate action is required. When such a judgment has been made, the
majority vote of those present shall prevail.
ARTICLE IV B. Revision of the constitution or by-laws can be proposed and
discussed at the national meeting of the association. Revision to the
constitution requires a two-thirds majority vote at the RPA national
business meeting. Revision to the by-laws requires a simple majority vote
at the national business meeting. Whenever possible, proposed revisions to
the constitution or by-laws should be circulated to the membership prior to
the national meeting, through the newsletter, electronic discussion list or
other means.
Article IV C. Revisions to this constitution go into effect upon adoption
at the november 2000 national meeting. At that time current officers or
divisional representative advisory committee members will begin a four year
term. Unfilled positions will be elected by the membership (in the manner
stipulated above) in the event that there are more candidates than
positions available.
BY-LAWS
1. Standing project committees of the RPA will at least include the following:
A. Newsletter Committee: to coordinate the publication of the RPA newsletter;
B. Review Editor(s): to coordinate publication of the Radical Philosophy
Review (subject to by-law 2, below);
C. Proceedings Editor(s): to coordinate publication of the proceedings
series (subject to by-law 2, below);
D. Internet Committee: to develop and maintain an RPA presence on the "web"
and through other electronic media channels;
E. Outreach Committee: to coordinate efforts to increase membership in the
association and subscriptions to the association's publications.
1. As soon as possible, editors appointed for 1B and 1C above should
establish procedures for appointing editorial and/or advisory boards for
their respective publications if they have not already done so. Provisions
should be made for rotation of the editors of these publications and their
associated boards which will be self-sustaining, subject to review by the
RPA advisory committee, and subject to a vote by the association membership
as a whole. Elections of editors and editorial board members for 1B and 1C
shall take place at the national business meeting.
2. In the absence of the formation of a project committee around one of
these projects (or in the absence of a critical mass of members available
to work on some future project deemed of interest to the association), the
advisory committee may delegate an individual to take responsibility for
the tasks of that project committee (e.g. appointing a single newsletter
editor in the event that a committee does not form around producing the
newsletter). An individual selected for such a job will be reviewed every
four years.
3. Additional project committees may be formed through an appeal to the
advisory committee and according to the procedure outlined in article IIIJ.
At the time of ratification of this constitution, existing project
committees shall be automatically reaffirmed as RPA project committees.
The secretary shall keep a list of all current project committees and their
membership.
4. Annual dues shall be set by the advisory committee in U.S. dollars and
reviewed for amendment on a yearly basis.
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Last update: Novemeber 29, 2000
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