Peace Action Committee – Committee Rules

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(approved by the National Committee 8/6/2006)
(amended by the National Committee 10/22/2017)

1. Committee Structure
The Peace Action Committee is a standing committee of the GP-US and is governed by section 3 of the bylaws of the GP-US. The Peace Action Committee shall be made up of volunteers from the various state Green parties and caucuses. As a standing committee of the GP-US, up to three members of any state party may be members of the Peace Action Committee. Each state party, when nominating a member to Peace Action Committee, shall send a note to the co-chairs of the Peace Action Committee informing the Peace Action Committee of its nomination(s). The Peace Action Committee shall maintain an email list for the communication of committee business and to use in formal decision making.

2. Officers

The officers of the Peace Action Committee shall consist of two Co-Chairs and one Secretary.

The officers shall be nominated and elected by the membership of the committee for their initial term shortly after approval of these rules and recognition of the Peace Action Committee by the Green Party National Committee. Nominations for officers for subsequent terms shall take place at the Annual National Meeting of the GP-US. The terms of the officers shall be for two years, except that, at the first election following the first Annual National Meeting, one of the Co-Chairs shall be elected to a one-year term, in order to comply with GP-US By-Law 3-3.1.

Persons are not required to be in attendance to be nominated but must affirmatively indicate that they have accepted the nomination. Voting will take place for one week following the meeting in an on-line election to be conducted using Preference Voting. When possible the co-chairs shall be of different genders.

The Co-Chairs shall be responsible for convening meetings at the times set by the committee, keeping the committee and any sub-committees on task and serving as spokespersons for the committee, consistent with the mission and decisions of the committee as a whole. If a Co-Chair resigns or is removed, the committee shall nominate and elect a replacement to fill out the remainder of the term.

The Secretary shall be responsible for keeping and posting minutes of each meeting, and maintaining a roster of approved and active members for purposes of establishing quorum. The Secretary may delegate these tasks to other committee members by agreement, as needed, provided that he/she informs the committee of the delegation. The Secretary may also serve as a spokesperson for the committee, consistent with the mission and decisions of the committee as a whole. If a Secretary resigns or is removed, the committee shall nominate and elect a replacement to fill out the remainder of the term.

Officers may be removed for cause, either by consensus or by a 2/3 vote of the voting active members.

3. Decisions

A) Committee Decision Process

Any member of the committee may submit an action proposal or resolution for consideration by the committee, either at a phone conference meeting, in-person meeting, or by email or other on-line mode of communication.

If a proposal or resolution is submitted at a phone conference or in-person meeting, members can indicate their support or raise concerns at that time, but the proposal or resolution shall still be submitted to the entire committee on-line for decision-making as described in this section before being adopted by consensus or vote.

The committee shall first attempt to achieve consensus on the resolution or proposal. There shall be a minimum period of at least five full days allowed to test for consensus, the time to be extended by the Co-Chairs as needed if concerns have been raised. If no concerns are raised within the designated period, then the proposal or resolution will have been adopted by consensus.

Following a minimum of five days, if no consensus is achieved, the Peace Action Committee shall be empowered to vote (on-line), and a 2/3 vote of the voting active members shall be required for passage. As usual for GP-US committees, each represented state and caucus will have one vote.

When an online vote is needed to make a formal decision, the resolution or proposal will again be circulated on the list followed by a two-week discussion period, followed by a 5-day voting period. The Co-Chairs shall conduct and certify the votes.

B) Emergency Decision Powers

A member may submit a proposal or resolution as an “emergency or time-sensitive matter.” If all three officers agree that the proposal or resolution is of a time-sensitive nature, then the proposal or resolution may be submitted for consensus within a 24-hour period and, if no blocking concerns are raised, may be adopted by consensus, provided that all three officers are among the consenting members. This provision shall only be used when extraordinary circumstances require a fast decision in order for the intent of the proposal or resolution to be fulfilled.

4. Quorums and Active Members

An active member of the Peace Action Committee shall be defined as a duly-acknowledged member who has been active within the last three months, taking part in discussion, decisions, or sub-committee work within that period.

One third of the active membership shall constitute a quorum for formal decision making. There shall be no quorum requirements for the committee to take on projects, designate people to work on projects, or other informal work that moves the committee’s operations and projects along.

5. Communications

The Peace Action Committee shall use agreed upon platforms to conduct business. This may include teleconferences, video conferences, email, social media or in-person platforms. All formal decisions made at meetings shall adhere to the normal decision-making processes and will be documented on the official committee list.

6. Reports

The Peace Action Committee shall make regular reports to the GP-US Steering Committee on its work. The Co-Chairs shall lead that process.

7. Sub-Committees

The committee may establish sub-committees as needed to perform specific tasks or work on designated projects. These shall be created through the normal decision-making process described in these rules. Each sub-committee should designate an individual to serve as chair, responsible for ensuring that the sub-committee stays on task and for reporting its work to the committee.

8. Civility and Respect for Minority Viewpoints on Issues and Decisions

Within the parameters of the Ten Key Values, committee members shall strive to respect differences of opinion, remain civil and respectful in their communications, and refrain from name-calling or labeling of other committee or party members. When a decision is made over the expressed concerns or objections of a minority of members of the committee, those members remain free to communicate their concerns to their state-party delegation or other members of the National Committee or Steering Committee of the GP-US, provided, however, that such communications should be shared or copied to the committee as a whole, in the interest of transparency.