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Proposal Details

Proposal ID	738
Proposal	Amendments to Bylaws Article I: Name and Mission Statement
Presenter	Steering Committee
Floor Manager	Katey Culver
Phase	Closed - Failed
Discussion	02-17-2014 - 03-02-2014
Voting	03-03-2014 - 03-09-2014
Presens Quorum	Two Thirds of Active Accredited States/Caucuses
Consens Quorum	Two Thirds of Yes and No Votes

Background

The current Article I of the GPUS Bylaws (Purpose) is 17 years old; does not accurately describe or reflect current GPUS practice; and needs to be updated.

The existing GPUS Purpose uses the same text as that approved in the founding bylaws of the Association of State Green Parties (ASGP) in November 1996 (http://greenpages.wordpress.com/2008/10/26/the-association-of-state-green-parties), text which was subsequently grafted verbatim into the first set of GPUS Rules and Procedures in July 2001 (http://web.archive.org/web/20010817154413/http://www.greenpartyus.org/documents/bylaws.html).
Part of that original Purpose Statement - the part about creating a legally structured national Green Party Federation – is outdated, as it was written pre-GPUS, with the idea of creating something like the GPUS.

This proposal would amend Article I by replacing the existing Purpose Statement with a new section, GPUS Mission Statement based in the party's Key Values, as well as adding a new section, 1.3, that would acknowledge the existence of the GPUS and clarify primary GPUS functions.

The entire current Article 1, which would be replaced, reads as follows.
ARTICLE I. PURPOSE
1. Assist in the development of State Green Parties
2. Create a legally structured national Green Party Federation

Mission Statement: Between April 2010 and June 2011, the National Committee considered four prior proposals to amend Article I, listed below in the references in order of their approval. This proposal builds upon the approach that reached the strongest support, #565, and also considers input from the Strategic Planning process about the desire of voters to be presented with an independent electoral alternative.

In addition to adding the proposed Mission Statement, this proposal would amend Article I to:
- Retain what is valuable from the current Article I Purpose (supporting state parties) in the Primary Functions section.
- Establish a Primary Functions section of Article I to make clear which functions are clearly the province of the national party.
- Expand the part of the existing Article I about supporting the development of state parties to cover activities Greens indicated they are the most important functions of GPUS.
- Add language for the first time that supports the development of caucuses as one of the party's primary functions.
Placing this content in its own separate Primary Functions section of Article I rather than as part of the Mission Statement, allows the Mission Statement to be shorter and more to the point, and thus more informative for the general public.

Proposal

That the existing ARTICLE I. PURPOSE of the GPUS Bylaws be replaced with the following text:

ARTICLE I. NAME, STRUCTURE, MISSION, FUNCTION

Section 1-1 Name and Structure

1-1.1 The name of this organization is the Green Party of the United States (GPUS).

1-1.2 The GPUS is a legally structured national Green Party federation of state Green parties.

Section 1-2 Mission

The Green Party of the United States, in service to the Earth and the unalienable rights of all people, is dedicated to transforming the political and economic system by electing Greens to public office and expanding democracy.

Section 1.3 Primary Functions

The primary functions of the GPUS are to:

1-3.1 Maintain a legally structured national Green Party federation of state Green Parties, with National Committee status recognition by the Federal Elections Commission.

1-3.2 Support the development of accredited state parties and their electoral work; support the development of accredited caucuses; facilitate the sharing of skills and information among Greens; and provide national sources of information about Green parties, candidates, officeholders and policies.

1-3.3 Conduct a national Presidential candidate nomination process.

1-3.4 Approve a national Party platform.

1-3.5 Conduct relations with Green Parties internationally.

Resources

Bylaw change would become effective upon passage.

References

GPUS Bylaws, ARTICLE I. PURPOSE http://www.gp.org/documents/bylaws.shtml#01

ARTICLE I. PURPOSE

1. Assist in the development of State Green Parties 2. Create a legally structured national Green Party Federation

Past proposals to amend ARTICLE I (2010-2011), in order of NC support

• 565 (81-47-4, 63.3%) November 2010 http://gp.org/cgi-bin/vote/propresult?pid=565

• 445 (71-50-3) 58.7%) April 2010 http://gp.org/cgi-bin/vote/propresult?pid=445

• 593 (37-37-6, 50.0%) June 2011 http://gp.org/cgi-bin/vote/propresult?pid=593

• 567 (38-41-6, 48.1%) December 2010 http://gp.org/cgi-bin/vote/propresult?pid=567

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