Green Party of the United States - National Committee Voting

Home	Vote	Results	History	Contacts	Admin
	National Committee Voting

Login

Proposal Details

Proposal ID	1061
Proposal	Code of Conduct
Presenter	Black Caucus, Ohio
Floor Manager	Anita Rios
Phase	Cancelled
Discussion	07/05/2021 - 07/18/2021
Voting	07/19/2021 - 07/25/2021
Presens Quorum	0.6666
Consens Quorum	0.6666 of Yes and No Votes

Background

The GPUS Bylaws, in Article VII, Ethical Standards, obliquely address ethical behavior on the part of Greens, but it is largely written for state parties and is mostly about representation and structure. The Green Party’s respect for human rights is a foundation from our platform as a political organization. Our code of conduct should reflect the following principles set forth in the International Bill of Human Rights whose goal is the prevention of human rights violations.

Proposal

Amend the GPUS Bylaws, Article VII, "Ethical Behavior", (https://gpus.org/bylaws/#07) by renaming it “Code of Ethics & Conduct” and replacing current text with the following:

ARTICLE VII. CODE OF ETHICS & CONDUCT
The Green Party has a vested interest in ensuring that our policies meet the highest ethical standards, adhere to Green Values, and support equality of opportunity, diversity and inclusion, and the absence of all inappropriate behaviors. We all have an ethical responsibility to take appropriate action to prevent or stop discriminatory, oppressive, or abusive behavior by subscribing to the following ethical principles within our Code of Conduct.

7-1 Code of Conduct
7-1.1 Application of the Code of Conduct
In this code, “member(s)” includes: Anyone that subscribes to this Code of Conduct including state green parties, committee officers, elected officials, candidates, and/or representatives of any associated entity. However, the Green Party is not fully liable for its members if it makes a good-faith effort to inform its members of the code and encourage them to abide by it.

7-1.2 Principles of the Code of Conduct

a) The Green Party of the United States Code of Conduct Guidelines are intended to establish the basic standards to ensure that each member of the Green Party, when engaging in political activities to advance the Green Party, shall act in accordance with social ethics and in full compliance with the law where criminal or civil penalties could apply, and other specific penalties that may be referenced elsewhere in the Bylaws, Rules, and Procedures of the Green Party of the United States.
b) The Green Party plays a role in driving the realization of a sustainable society through the creation of a political party to add value to electoral integrity and social responsibility but also reflects the commitment to respect the human rights recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world.

7-1.3 Code of Conduct Guidelines
a) Inclusiveness. The Green Party of the United States welcomes and supports people of all backgrounds and identities. No person shall be discriminated against, deliberately made to feel unwelcome, or disparaged based on age, race, ethnicity, culture, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, national/family origin(s), social and economic class, educational level, occupation or occupational status, color, immigration status, size, family status, religion, or mental or physical ability/features.
b) Interpersonal responsibility. The success of the Green Party of the United States depends on the enthusiasm, talents, cooperation, and hard work of each of its members to maintain and actively maintain relationships. All internal and external communications of members should enhance human worth and dignity by fostering truthfulness, fairness, responsibility, personal integrity, and respect for self and others.

7-1.4 Compliance with the Code of Conduct
a) Applicable members shall recognize that it is their role to realize the Principle of the Code and it shall also proactively implement the Guidelines of the Code and strive to raise awareness of the Guidelines within all internal and external affairs of the Green Party to achieve its full compliance.
b) Applicable members are bound by the Code and will take decisive steps to prohibit from infringing the Code; will take all reasonable steps to discourage any type of conduct in breach of the Code; and will not abuse the right to complain about violations of the Code, nor make false, frivolous, or vexatious complaints.
c) Applicable members will not accept: threats of violence; hate speech; discriminatory jokes, slurs or language; sharing sexually explicit or violent material; name-calling and personal insults, bigoted terms (racist, sexist, transphobic, intentional misgendering, etc.); unwelcome sexual attention; vilification or backbiting; bullying, including excessive or unfair criticism, public insults, deliberate exclusion with the intent to marginalize, and cyber-bullying and cybercrimes or advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above where criminal or civil penalties could also be applicable by law.
d) Applicable members will not abuse a position of power, privilege, or influence for professional and/or personal gains, by offering a reward, threatening a penalty, or by any other means. This Code will not be used in a punitive manner against anyone who is the target of conduct in breach of the Code, or to punish, dismiss, or demean any emotion that an oppressed person expresses in response to any forms of oppression.
e) Applicable members will make every effort to maintain communication with other applicable members and shall clarify both internally and externally that it will take charge to resolve a situation, determine the cause of infringement, take formal action through official grievance procedures, and make efforts to prevent similar violations in the future.

7-1.5: Violations of the Code of Conduct
a) Applicable members respect freedom of expression and provide a comprehensive dispute resolution system and grievance mechanism that enables reporting of human rights concerns without fear of retaliation. Violations are promptly investigated and timely remedial action to correct the negative impact on human rights are implemented with preventative controls to mitigate risks of any future violations.
b) Applicable members may be provided continuous education and training workshops necessary to put this policy into practice.

Resources

Contacts:
Darryl! LC Moch, Co-Chair, NBC, nubianphoenix1@gmail.com
Trahern Crews, Co-Chair, NBC, traherncrews@gmail.com
Philena Farley, Treasurer, NBC, pifbits@ohiogreens.org
Dee Murphy, Secretary, NBC, bcgpus@gmail.com

References

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights - https://www.un.org/en/udhrbook/pdf/udhr_booklet_en_web.pdf
• The International Bill of Human Rights - https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/FactSheet2Rev.1en.pdf
• Review of Political Parties' Codes of Conduct
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/841226/Review_of_political_parties__Codes_of_Conduct_July_2019.pdf

Other Examples of Global Green Party member’s Code of Conduct
• GREEN PARTY MEMBERS CODE OF CONDUCT - UK
https://sheffieldgreenparty.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Code-of-Conduct-June-2019.pdf

• Schedule 3B - Code of Conduct - Australia
https://greens.org.au/sites/greens.org.au/files/VIC%20Code%20of%20conduct.pdf

• Members' Code of Conduct - Canada
https://www.greenparty.ca/en/members/resources/party/procedures/safe-space-policy

• SCOTTISH GREEN PARTY CODE OF CONDUCT
https://greens.scot/Code-of-Conduct

Questions about this system?
Contact the Voting Admin.
The Green Party of the United States voting system is free software, licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
You can download a copy here.
To independently verify a ranked choice vote, or for information about how that works, go to Jonathan Lundell's Voting Page and upload the ballot file from the ranked choice vote result page. JL's ranked choice module is licensed under an alternate free software license.

Green Party of the United States