International Initiative for Promoting Political Economy
Draft Statutes – Version B
1.1 The name of the Association shall be the “International Initiative for Promoting Political Economy”, herein after referred to as “IIPPE”.
1.2 The aims of IIPPE are: i) to promote Marxist political economy; ii) to command and criticise mainstream economics; iii) to engage critically and constructively with heterodox alternatives to mainstream economics; iv) to assess and advance political economy across other social sciences; and v) to engage with activism through formulation of progressive policy and support for progressive movements.
1.3 IIPPE is a non-profit association of researchers, students, practitioners and other persons committed to the pursuit of the aims indicated in clause 1.2. Its main functions are: i) to promote and facilitate the collective pursuit by its members of the aims indicated in 2.1, within Working Groups and within IIPPE as a whole; and ii) to promote the sharing of knowledge and information relevant to the pursuit of those aims within and across the Working Groups, IIPPE as a whole, academia, and society, namely through virtual fora, newsletters, seminars, conferences, publications, and other means of communication.
2.1 Membership is open to all persons sympathetic to the aims of IIPPE and willing to abide by its Statutes, and valid upon receipt of the Membership form.
2.2 All members have the right to terminate their membership by formally expressing their wish to resign to the Executive Committee. Resignation will be effective upon reception of this request.
3.1 The main bodies within the organizational structure of IIPPE are the Working Groups, the Executive Committee, the Board of Working Group Coordinators and the Secretariat.
4.1 The Working Groups are entirely self-run structures that promote and facilitate the pursuit of IIPPE’s general aims within a specific existential, theoretical or political field. This shall be made explicit in the name of the Working Group and in a short statement to be made public in the IIPPE website.
4.2 Working Groups shall be created by any group of at least three IIPPE members who state their wish to do so in writing to the Executive Committee. The creation of a new working group will normally be the result of those members wishing to pursue the activities described in clause 4.1 on a topic and/or along theoretical or methodological lines that significantly differ from those undertaken within already existing groups, while abiding to the general aims of IIPPE as stated in clause 1.2. Working Groups will enter into existence automatically upon written communication to the Executive Committee, but formal representation in, and voting rights in, the Board of Working Group Coordinators (as per clauses 4.3 and 7.1) shall only enter into effect after approval of the Working Group by majority voting at a subsequent quorate meeting of the Board of Working Group Coordinators. The purpose of this process of approval shall consist of ensuring that: i) there are legitimate grounds for wishing to undertake Working Group activity within a different Working Group to those already in existence; and ii) the creation of the Working Group is not undertaken with the main purpose of gaining an additional number of votes within the Board of Working Group Coordinators.
4.3 Each Working Group shall have one or more coordinators. The coordinator(s) shall be elected or nominated as of the original procedure to create the Working Group, or through any subsequent selection or nomination process within the Working Group. These coordinator(s) shall be member(s) of the Board of Working Group Coordinators, subject to a maximum of two although provision shall be made for alternates in undertaking the business of the Board.
4.4 Membership in a Working Group is activated by request to the current coordinator(s) and is valid upon reception of that request. The presumption is that membership is automatic subject to each Working Group defining its own procedures for running itself and undertaking its activities.
4.5 Working Groups are encouraged to share some of the results of their activities with the broader membership of IIPPE, namely at the Annual Conference and through Working Papers and other means of communication. They are also encouraged actively to share some of those results with academia and society in general.
4.6 Working Groups may be terminated through a resolution of the Executive Committee seconded by majority at a Meeting of the Board of Working Group Coordinators, in the event of gross violation of IIPPE’s aims as indicated in clause 2.1, or of lack of significant activity over the course of the previous two years.
5.1 The Executive Committee shall be composed of the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson, and the Treasurer. It is responsible for defining IIPPE’s strategic orientation in consultation with the Board of Working Group Coordinators and for generally overseeing the pursuit of IIPPE’s aims.
5.2 The Executive Committee shall be elected annually, by majority voting, at the Meeting of the Board of Working Group Coordinators that will normally take place at the same time and in the same place as the Annual Conference. It shall be elected from among the various competing lists if applicable. Only members of IIPPE may be elected to the Executive Committee. The mandate lasts one year and there is no limit to the number of times the mandate may be renovated.
5.3 The members of the Executive Committee may resign by formally expressing their wish to do so to the Membership and Board of Working Group Coordinators. In the event of resignation of one member of the Executive Committee, the remaining two shall co-opt a third member for the remainder of the term and reassign the positions within the Executive Committee as they deem appropriate.
5.4 In the event of resignation of two or more members of the Executive Committee, or of disagreement amongst the remaining two members of the Executive Committee as to who how to reassign the positions in case one member resigns, an interim Executive Committee shall be elected by the Board of Working Group Coordinators according to the procedures indicated in Clause 5.9.
5.5 The Executive Committee shall confirm, appoint, and/or replace if necessary, all the members of the Secretariat. It shall also create new positions within the Secretariat or eliminate existing ones according to the strategic orientation and current needs of IIPPE.
5.6 The Executive Committee shall present an Annual Report to the Meeting of the Board of Working Group Coordinators, which shall include financial and activity reports for the previous year. This Annual Report shall be circulated at least one month in advance of that Meeting, and made available to the membership after the Meeting.
5.7 The members of the Executive Committee will in principle be joint holders of IIPPE’s bank account and jointly responsible for the use of that account. In particular, the Treasurer will be responsible for keeping a detailed account of any transactions conducted in IIPPE’s name, as well as all of its expenses and revenues, to be presented in summarized form in the Annual Report.
5.8 The Chairperson is responsible for generally representing IIPPE in official dealings with other organizations or individuals. Should the Chairperson be unable to fulfil this responsibility on a particular occasion and for a particular purpose, s/he may delegate this responsibility to the Vice-Chairperson (by default) or to a member of IIPPE of his/her choosing according to the circumstances. Delegation of this responsibility is valid upon communication to the Board of Working Group Coordinators.
5.9 In the event of resignation of two or more members of the Executive Committee, or of its impeachment, an interim Executive Committee shall be nominated by the Board of Working Coordinators, and its mandate shall last until the following Meeting of the Board of Working Group Coordinators. The nomination of the interim Executive Committee shall be decided by way of a list gaining the formal endorsement of at least half the number of Working Group Coordinators plus one. This process shall normally take place over the internet, and shall be open to scrutiny by the Membership.
5.10 Any interim Executive Committee shall limit its activity to undertaking IIPPE’s current business, and shall refrain from taking decisions with major strategic, political or financial consequences.
6.1 The Secretariat shall be composed of those members who are appointed by the Executive Committee to undertake specific horizontal tasks within IIPPE and/or with a view to pursuing IIPPE’s aims. Minimally, it shall be composed of those individually or collectively undertaking the roles of the Newsletter Editor, the External Relations Officer, the Website Administrator, the Working Groups Facilitator, the Publications Officer, the Educational Resources Officer and the Activism Officer. Additional Positions within the Secretariat may be created or terminated by the Executive Committee, according to the strategic orientation and current needs of IIPPE and by way of communication to the Membership.
6.2 Only active members of IIPPE may be nominated to Positions in the Secretariat. The mandate of each member of the Secretariat begins with his/her appointment by the Executive Committee and will automatically end in the event: i) of a different Executive Committee being elected; ii) of a request by the current Executive Committee for the Position to be terminated; or iii) of a request by the current Executive Committee for the Position to be occupied by a different person. ii) and iii) shall become effective upon communication by the Executive Committee to the Membership.
6.3 The Newsletter Editor is responsible for undertaking and overseeing the selection, collection, editing, formatting and publication of contents through IIPPE’s official Newsletter, which shall serve as a privileged means of communication within and across the membership, namely for the purpose of official and other announcements. In consultation with the Executive Committee, s/he shall ensure that the Newsletter be an active instrument in the pursuit of IIPPE’s general aims as stated in 2.1, and its strategic orientation as defined by the Executive Committee.
6.4 The External Relations Officer is responsible for executing the strategic orientation as defined by the Executive Committee in matters related to IIPPE’s relations with external organizations and individuals, namely for the purposes of academic and/or political collaboration, and dissemination of IIPPE’s activities.
6.5 The Website Administrator is responsible for undertaking and overseeing the selection, collection, formatting and publication of contents through the official IIPPE Website(s), which shall serve as a privileged means of communication both across the membership and with academia and society more generally.
6.6 The Working Groups Facilitator is responsible for facilitating and supporting the activity of the Working Groups and for liaising between the latter, the Executive Committee and the Secretariat. S/he is additionally responsible for keeping and updating the Membership list.
6.7 The Publications Officer is responsible for coordinating and overseeing IIPPE’s editorial activity, including book and working paper series.
6.8 The Educational Resources Officer is responsible for coordinating and overseeing IIPPE’s activities in matters related to the provision of progressive educational support, including suggested curricula and reading lists.
6.9 The Activism Officer is responsible for facilitating and coordinating IIPPE’s activities in matters related to the provision of progressive policy and support to progressive groups.
7.1 The Board of Working Group Coordinators is the sovereign body governing IIPPE’s activities and organisation, as expressed by majority vote at a quorate Meeting of the Board of Working Group Coordinators in accordance with clause 8.1 below. It is composed of the Coordinators of all the Working Groups.
7.2 At least one Meeting of the Board of Working Group Coordinators shall take place every year, normally at the same time and in the same place as the Annual Conference. Additional Meetings may be called by a majority at a preceding and quorate Meeting, or by a majority of the Working Group Coordinators formally expressing that intention to the Executive Committee, or by a majority of the Executive Committee.
7.3 The precise time and place of all Meetings of the Board of Working Group Coordinators shall be designated by the President. Extraordinary Meetings of the Board of Working Group Coordinators shall be held only in the country in which the largest number of members reside, or at the same time and in the same place as a general IIPPE event.
7.4 The date, time and venue of any Meetings of the Board of Working Group Coordinators will be communicated in writing by the Executive Committee to all members at least 3 months in advance.
7.5 In the interim period between Meetings of the Board of Working Group Coordinators the business of the Association shall be conducted by the Executive Committee.
7.6 The Board of Working Group Coordinators shall advise the Executive Committee on matters related to IIPPE’s strategic orientation and current needs. It may pass resolutions, valid if approved by majority at a quorate Meeting of the Board of Working Group Coordinators, conditioning the actions and activities of the Executive Committee.
7.7 The Board of Working Group Coordinators may vote to impeach the Executive Committee at a quorate meeting by a favourable vote of two thirds of the Working Group Coordinators present. For these purposes, those Working Groups represented by more than one Coordinator will have only one vote, to be decided by agreement among those Coordinators.
8.1 The quorum at a Meeting of the Board of Working Groups coordinators shall be half the number of existing Working Groups plus one. For these purposes, those Working Groups represented by more than one Coordinator shall be counted only once.
10.1 The Executive Committee shall be elected at least once every year at a Meeting of the Board of Working Group Coordinators, usually taking place at the same time and in the same place as the Annual Conference.
10.2 The Executive Committee shall announce a due date for nominations and a circulation date by which the ballot shall be circulated. The announcement, the due date for nominations and the circulation date by which the ballot shall be circulated shall be 56, 28 and 21 days before the day of the election, respectively. The elected Executive Committee will take office immediately upon its election.
10.3 The Executive Committee shall be elected by list voting, with each list indicating which candidate is to fill each position. Voting shall take place by ballot, with each Working Group coordinator present at the Meeting of the Board of Working Group Coordinators selecting their first preference.
10.4 In the case of contested elections to the Executive Committee, the winning list will be that which receives more than half the number of votes plus one. If there is no absolute first-round majority, a second round of voting shall take place, in which the Working Group Coordinators shall choose by ballot from among the two lists that received the highest number of votes in the first round.
11.1 These Statutes may be changed through a resolution proposed by the Executive Committee, or half the Working Group Coordinators. This resolution becomes valid if adopted by a two third majority at a quorate Meeting of the Board of Working Group Coordinators. If approved, the resolution will be announced to the Membership within the subsequent 7 days.
12.1 IIPPE may be dissolved only through a resolution proposed by the Executive Committee, or half the Working Group Coordinators. This resolution becomes valid only if adopted by a two third majority at a quorate Meeting of the Board of Working Group Coordinators.
12.2 If adopted according to the procedure indicated in 12.1, the resolution to terminate IIPPE shall enter into effect immediately.
13.1 All matters not covered by these Statutes and not addressed by UK Law shall be dealt with and decided by the Executive Committee. Such decisions may be overturned by a majority vote at a Meeting of the Board of Working Group Coordinators.