Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Proposal 276 would change the "Rapid Response" process
As it stands now, the USGP is able to respond only rather slowly to issues that come up suddenly. For example, if a nation were to invade another, the party could issue a press release right away, but an official stand from the GNC or steering coimmittee takes a rather long time to clear hurdles. Proposal 276 would change the way that is done when time is of the essence.
It is open for discussion until 4/9/07. The text is at the link above, or behind the "Read more!" link...
Background
This proposal amends the "Steering Committee Endorsement Process" (i.e., a rapid response endorsement process) in the GPUS Rules and Policies in order to bring the process into compliance with other GPUS policy, and to facilitate both a more transparent and accessible process, while retaining the accountability and authority designated in the original language; and also will stipulate a clear channel for communications, decreasing the potential for mis-communication. This is not meant to change the policy in regard to the GPUS National Committee as the ultimate decision-making body, but to come up with an accessible policy for the GPUS.
A review of voting page proposal archives and the rules makes clear that the National Committee is the body which authorizes GPUS endorsements, with some provision for the Steering Committee to make endorsements or statements on behalf of he GPUS if there is a time constraint. The current policy for rapid endorsements, however, doesn't reflect the fact that the voting page has become the official record of the National Committee; the fact that the voting page program does not, for good reason, allow a proposal to go immediately into a voting period; the unfeasibility of requesting a National Committee vote and expecting to reach a quorum within one week of a proposal being introduced. The National Committee is larger today than when the policy was adopted. Further, it is not apparent that the processes currently described in the policy have ever been used at all.
The current policy allows the SC, in consultation with GP media and other relevant advisors, to make a rapid endorsement or statement given a 24-hour deadline, with 80% agreeing to the need for a timely response, and consensus regarding the content itself. The policy allows the NC to make a 2 to 7 day decision, involving various channels of communication and an online (listserv) decision. The third option is for a greater than 7 day (and presumably fewer than 3 week) response, by sending a proposal to the NC "votes" list *and* to all other delegates and/or others for an online decision involving a quorum of NC delegates and an 80% approval threshold. These options, if ever utilized, would involve a huge amount of e-traffic, and a potential confusing mess in terms of trying to figure out the timeline, possible
revisions/amendments, compiling feedback, approval, rejection, etc.
Further, given the current use of the voting page, use of the voting page as the official record, and expectations of a more clear process involving floor managers and online discussion, these options seem less feasible than they may have appeared at the time they were adopted.
Proposal
That the current policy in the GPUS Rules & Procedures, 4.
STEERING COMMITTEE ENDORSEMENT PROCESS, be replaced with the following amendment:
GPUS Rules & Procedures
4. STEERING COMMITTEE ENDORSEMENT PROCESS/ENDORSEMENT PROCESS FOR TIME SENSITIVE REQUESTS
A. 24-48 Hour Response
The Steering Committee, in consultation with Green media spokespeople and other knowledgeable greens, will draft a statement, and use the appropriate spokespeople to disseminate said statement. The Steering Committee will also e-mail and otherwise transmit the statement to the Green Party National Committee for comment before releasing the
statement publicly, but shall be allowed to release the statement even without feedback. A quorum of at least 80% of all members of the Green Party Steering Committee is necessary for determining that events require an immediate response, and there must be an agreement among at least 80% of all Steering Committee members on the substance of their response.
B. Three to fourteen day response
The Steering Committee, in consultation with Green media spokespeople and other knowledgeable greens, shall be empowered to draft a response. This response shall be transmitted to the National Committee for feedback and advice. In making a final decision, the Steering Committee will take into account recommendations and objections from the National Committee. The Steering Committee will use the
appropriate spokespeople to disseminate said statement or response.
If, at any point during this period, response is heard from half or more member states with an 80% majority either for approval or rejection, the Steering Committee will be bound by that response.
C. Two to three week response.
Such proposals will follow the regular process for submission to the voting queue, with the exception of an expedited timeline: upon reception, the Secretary will immediately contact the Steering Committee for approval to send the proposal on to the voting page. There will be a one week
discussion period, and one week for the vote. The approval threshold will be unchanged from the regular policy governing approval thresholds.
CURRENT LANGUAGE
http://gp.org/documents/rules.shtml
4. STEERING COMMITTEE ENDORSEMENT PROCESS
A. 24 Hour Response
The Steering Committee, in consultation with Green media spokes people and other knowledgeable greens, will draft a statement, and use the appropriate spokes people to disseminate said statement. The Steering committee will also e-mail and otherwise transmit the statement to Green Party representatives, the elected leadership of the State Parties, and/or the instant response designate of the respective state
parties for comment before releasing the statement publicly, but shall be allowed to release the statement even without feedback. A quorum of at least 80% of the members of the Green Party Steering Committee is necessary for determining that events require an immediate response, and there must be a complete consensus among Steering Committee members participating on the substance of their response.
B. Two to seven day response
The Steering Committee shall be empowered to draft a response. This response shall be transmitted to the state parties for acceptance or rejection along with a note stating how swiftly the Green Party Steering Committee wishes to respond. The State Parties shall designate a person to be the conduit for these transmissions. This person can be a representative to the GREEN PARTY Coordinating Committee,
a state party official, or any other person that the state
party designates. The designates shall be responsible for polling the Greens in their state as to the appropriateness of the response by whatever set of rules their state party sets up, and transmitting that response back to the GREEN PARTY Steering Committee. Because of the time factor, these resolutions shall be acted upon by a pass/fail process. The GREEN PARTY Steering Committee shall be empowered to make a public statement if at least one half of the member states respond to the statement proposal and at least 80% of the responses are affirmative.
C. Greater than seven days response
Any state party that wishes the GREEN PARTY to weigh in on a
particular issue shall draft and pass a resolution according to their own set of rules, and then pass a resolution asking that it be submitted to the GREEN PARTY for use as a national statement on the issue. These resolutions shall then be transmitted to the GREEN PARTY Secretary and then forwarded to the designated representative of each affiliated state party. The state conduits for these resolutions are asked to poll their membership using whatever process is appropriate for their state. Any potential changes to the resolution
must be returned to the GREEN PARTY Secretary within 5 days of the receipt of the resolution. at which time the GREEN PARTY shall submit either an altered or original resolution for passage. Alternately, the GREEN PARTY Steering Committee and National Committee can propose and draft resolutions on the issues which shall then be circulated in the same manner as resolutions coming from state parties. Within 5 days of the receipt of the second resolution, the designated issue's representatives are asked to transmit their acceptance or rejection of the resolution. At least 50% of the member states of the GREEN PARTY must vote on a resolution, and at least 80% of the voting states must approve the resolution before the GREEN PARTY shall be allowed to issue a public statement.
Resources
None
References
CONTACT: Holly Hart hhart at blue.weeg.uiowa.edu
http://gp.org/documents/rules.shtml
It is open for discussion until 4/9/07. The text is at the link above, or behind the "Read more!" link...
Background
This proposal amends the "Steering Committee Endorsement Process" (i.e., a rapid response endorsement process) in the GPUS Rules and Policies in order to bring the process into compliance with other GPUS policy, and to facilitate both a more transparent and accessible process, while retaining the accountability and authority designated in the original language; and also will stipulate a clear channel for communications, decreasing the potential for mis-communication. This is not meant to change the policy in regard to the GPUS National Committee as the ultimate decision-making body, but to come up with an accessible policy for the GPUS.
A review of voting page proposal archives and the rules makes clear that the National Committee is the body which authorizes GPUS endorsements, with some provision for the Steering Committee to make endorsements or statements on behalf of he GPUS if there is a time constraint. The current policy for rapid endorsements, however, doesn't reflect the fact that the voting page has become the official record of the National Committee; the fact that the voting page program does not, for good reason, allow a proposal to go immediately into a voting period; the unfeasibility of requesting a National Committee vote and expecting to reach a quorum within one week of a proposal being introduced. The National Committee is larger today than when the policy was adopted. Further, it is not apparent that the processes currently described in the policy have ever been used at all.
The current policy allows the SC, in consultation with GP media and other relevant advisors, to make a rapid endorsement or statement given a 24-hour deadline, with 80% agreeing to the need for a timely response, and consensus regarding the content itself. The policy allows the NC to make a 2 to 7 day decision, involving various channels of communication and an online (listserv) decision. The third option is for a greater than 7 day (and presumably fewer than 3 week) response, by sending a proposal to the NC "votes" list *and* to all other delegates and/or others for an online decision involving a quorum of NC delegates and an 80% approval threshold. These options, if ever utilized, would involve a huge amount of e-traffic, and a potential confusing mess in terms of trying to figure out the timeline, possible
revisions/amendments, compiling feedback, approval, rejection, etc.
Further, given the current use of the voting page, use of the voting page as the official record, and expectations of a more clear process involving floor managers and online discussion, these options seem less feasible than they may have appeared at the time they were adopted.
Proposal
That the current policy in the GPUS Rules & Procedures, 4.
STEERING COMMITTEE ENDORSEMENT PROCESS, be replaced with the following amendment:
GPUS Rules & Procedures
4. STEERING COMMITTEE ENDORSEMENT PROCESS/ENDORSEMENT PROCESS FOR TIME SENSITIVE REQUESTS
A. 24-48 Hour Response
The Steering Committee, in consultation with Green media spokespeople and other knowledgeable greens, will draft a statement, and use the appropriate spokespeople to disseminate said statement. The Steering Committee will also e-mail and otherwise transmit the statement to the Green Party National Committee for comment before releasing the
statement publicly, but shall be allowed to release the statement even without feedback. A quorum of at least 80% of all members of the Green Party Steering Committee is necessary for determining that events require an immediate response, and there must be an agreement among at least 80% of all Steering Committee members on the substance of their response.
B. Three to fourteen day response
The Steering Committee, in consultation with Green media spokespeople and other knowledgeable greens, shall be empowered to draft a response. This response shall be transmitted to the National Committee for feedback and advice. In making a final decision, the Steering Committee will take into account recommendations and objections from the National Committee. The Steering Committee will use the
appropriate spokespeople to disseminate said statement or response.
If, at any point during this period, response is heard from half or more member states with an 80% majority either for approval or rejection, the Steering Committee will be bound by that response.
C. Two to three week response.
Such proposals will follow the regular process for submission to the voting queue, with the exception of an expedited timeline: upon reception, the Secretary will immediately contact the Steering Committee for approval to send the proposal on to the voting page. There will be a one week
discussion period, and one week for the vote. The approval threshold will be unchanged from the regular policy governing approval thresholds.
CURRENT LANGUAGE
http://gp.org/documents/rules.shtml
4. STEERING COMMITTEE ENDORSEMENT PROCESS
A. 24 Hour Response
The Steering Committee, in consultation with Green media spokes people and other knowledgeable greens, will draft a statement, and use the appropriate spokes people to disseminate said statement. The Steering committee will also e-mail and otherwise transmit the statement to Green Party representatives, the elected leadership of the State Parties, and/or the instant response designate of the respective state
parties for comment before releasing the statement publicly, but shall be allowed to release the statement even without feedback. A quorum of at least 80% of the members of the Green Party Steering Committee is necessary for determining that events require an immediate response, and there must be a complete consensus among Steering Committee members participating on the substance of their response.
B. Two to seven day response
The Steering Committee shall be empowered to draft a response. This response shall be transmitted to the state parties for acceptance or rejection along with a note stating how swiftly the Green Party Steering Committee wishes to respond. The State Parties shall designate a person to be the conduit for these transmissions. This person can be a representative to the GREEN PARTY Coordinating Committee,
a state party official, or any other person that the state
party designates. The designates shall be responsible for polling the Greens in their state as to the appropriateness of the response by whatever set of rules their state party sets up, and transmitting that response back to the GREEN PARTY Steering Committee. Because of the time factor, these resolutions shall be acted upon by a pass/fail process. The GREEN PARTY Steering Committee shall be empowered to make a public statement if at least one half of the member states respond to the statement proposal and at least 80% of the responses are affirmative.
C. Greater than seven days response
Any state party that wishes the GREEN PARTY to weigh in on a
particular issue shall draft and pass a resolution according to their own set of rules, and then pass a resolution asking that it be submitted to the GREEN PARTY for use as a national statement on the issue. These resolutions shall then be transmitted to the GREEN PARTY Secretary and then forwarded to the designated representative of each affiliated state party. The state conduits for these resolutions are asked to poll their membership using whatever process is appropriate for their state. Any potential changes to the resolution
must be returned to the GREEN PARTY Secretary within 5 days of the receipt of the resolution. at which time the GREEN PARTY shall submit either an altered or original resolution for passage. Alternately, the GREEN PARTY Steering Committee and National Committee can propose and draft resolutions on the issues which shall then be circulated in the same manner as resolutions coming from state parties. Within 5 days of the receipt of the second resolution, the designated issue's representatives are asked to transmit their acceptance or rejection of the resolution. At least 50% of the member states of the GREEN PARTY must vote on a resolution, and at least 80% of the voting states must approve the resolution before the GREEN PARTY shall be allowed to issue a public statement.
Resources
None
References
CONTACT: Holly Hart hhart at blue.weeg.uiowa.edu
http://gp.org/documents/rules.shtml
// posted by Gregg Jocoy @ 6:34 PM 
