BY-LAWS OF THE UNION FOR RADICAL POLITICAL ECONOMICS, INC.

Approved at the 2002 Business Meeting

Amended by URPE Membership in December 2021

ARTICLE I:  NAME

The name of this corporation shall be “Union for Radical Political Economics, Inc.” (hereafter, URPE).

ARTICLE II: PURPOSE

  1. The general purpose of URPE shall be to advance and disseminate, by all suitable methods, theories and ideas that promote a critical understanding of political economics.
  2. As part of its educational mission, URPE shall publish a professional journal (hereafter, the Review), and may issue other publications as it deems appropriate.

ARTICLE III: MEMBERSHIP

  1. Membership in URPE shall be open to all persons upon payment of annual dues or individual subscriptions to the Review. Membership may be suspended for nonpayment of dues or subscription fees after due notice of such nonpayment has been given. All current members have the right to vote on URPE business or in URPE elections as detailed in Article VIII below.
  2. Institutional and library subscriptions to the Review shall not establish membership in URPE or convey voting rights in URPE business.
  3. In the conduct of URPE business and URPE-sponsored activities, members are expected to interact in a comradely and respectful manner. Discrimination against or harassment of other URPE members on the basis of sex, race, age, ethnic and national origin, sexual orientation, disability or religious belief is forbidden.

ARTICLE IV: STEERING COMMITTEE

A. URPE shall be governed by a twelve-member Steering Committee (hereafter, the SC) elected by the current URPE membership.  Elections to the SC shall be held annually, with terms staggered so that four positions are up for election in a typical year.

  1. Only current members of URPE are eligible to stand for election to the SC. Candidates must be nominated and seconded by URPE members in good standing, as modified by Article VIII (E). Self-nomination is permitted.
  2. If there are more candidates than open positions in a given election, the open positions shall be filled by the candidates receiving the highest numbers of votes. In the event of a tie that precludes an exact match of elected candidates to open positions, the winning candidate(s) shall be selected by incumbent SC members.  If there are fewer candidates than open positions in a given election, all candidates receiving at least one vote shall be elected, and unfilled positions shall remain open to be filled in the next election.
  3. SC members shall be elected for three-year terms, except as necessary to stagger terms to ensure that one-third (or the nearest whole number) of the target number of SC positions are up for election each year. When it is necessary to have unequal terms to achieve this outcome, electees receiving the highest number of votes shall serve the longest terms, up to a length of three years.  No electee shall serve less than one year.
  4. The SC shall meet at least twice a year. Officers must be elected by each newly constituted SC. In any such election, a simple majority of current SC members shall constitute a quorum.
  5. Additional SC meetings beyond the minimum of two may be called by any incumbent officer, or by any three current SC members. A simple majority of current SC members shall constitute a quorum for any such meeting.  Notice of time, place, and purposes of each meeting of the SC shall be given in writing or electronically to all members of the committee at least two weeks before the date of such meeting.  Notice of such meetings shall be given to the URPE membership whenever possible, but lack of such notice shall not invalidate any meeting of the SC or any action taken thereat.
  6. The SC may establish an Executive Committee or other committees as needed to carry out the work of the organization.

H. Individual SC members may be removed for good cause by a two-thirds majority vote of the remaining current SC members.

ARTICLE V:  NATIONAL OFFICE

  1. URPE shall maintain a national office for the purpose of administering URPE financial and organizational affairs.
  2. The SC shall appoint one or more National Office Coordinator(s) (hereafter, the Coordinator) to manage the national office and exercise other such duties that the SC may determine. The Coordinator shall be employed on the basis of a renewable three-year contract, and compensated in a manner to be determined by the SC. The Coordinator shall be a non-voting ex officio member of the SC, and may not also be an elected member of the SC.
  3. The incumbent Coordinator may be removed by a two-thirds or better majority vote of current SC members.

ARTICLE VI: OFFICERS AND DUTIES

  1. The officers of the URPE shall be President/Convener, Treasurer, Secretary, and Clerk. Officers shall be elected by members of the current SC. The offices of President/Convener, Treasurer, and Secretary may only be held by current SC members, and these officers shall serve renewable one-year terms.
  2. The President/Convener shall be responsible for convening meetings, conveying advance notices of same, composing meeting agendas, assigning tasks to SC members, and overseeing their completion.
  3. The Treasurer shall be the chief financial officer of the corporation. She or he shall collect and disburse all monies under the direction of the SC; keep accurate records and make at least semi-annual financial reports to the SC; and have the power to endorse for deposit and to deposit all drafts, obligations, and evidence of indebtedness paid or payable to the corporation. The Treasurer may delegate any of these duties to the National Office Coordinator, but retains ultimate authority and responsibility for oversight respecting the performance of these duties.
  4. The Secretary shall keep the non-financial records of URPE. She or he shall maintain accurate and complete minute books of SC and membership business meetings and assure that these books are open at reasonable times and places to inspection by any member of the corporation. Some or all of these duties may also be delegated to the Clerk or the National Office Coordinator, but the Secretary retains ultimate authority and responsibility for oversight respecting the performance of these duties.
  5. If required by law, the Clerk must live in the state in which URPE is incorporated and fulfill those functions dictated by that state’s law.
  6. No person shall hold more than one office simultaneously, except as necessitated by the incapacitation of an existing officer.
  7. Except for the office of Clerk, SC members may not be elected for more than four consecutive one-year terms to any one SC office.

ARTICLE VII:  EDITORIAL BOARD AND MANAGING EDITOR

  1. The publication and content of the Review shall be overseen by an Editorial Board (hereafter, the Board) elected by the URPE membership. Elections to the Board shall be held annually.
  2. Current Board members shall elect a Managing Editor to administer the Review whenever that position is vacant. The Managing Editor shall be hired on the basis of a renewable three-year contract. The SC, in consultation with the Board, shall determine the level and manner of compensation for the Managing Editor.  The Board may remove the incumbent Managing Editor by a two-thirds or better majority vote of current Board members.
  3. Only current members of URPE are eligible to stand for election to the Board. Candidates must be nominated and seconded by URPE members in good standing. Self-nomination is permitted.
  4. If there are more candidates than open positions in a given election, the open positions shall be filled by the candidates receiving the highest numbers of votes. In the event of a tie that precludes an exact match of elected candidates to open positions, the winning candidate(s) shall be selected by incumbent Board members. If there are fewer candidates than open positions in a given election, all candidates receiving at least one vote shall be elected, and unfilled positions may either be closed by the Managing Editor in consultation with the newly constituted Board or held open until the next election.
  5. The Board shall consist of not less than twenty and not more than 30 members, the exact number to be determined prior to each year’s election by the Managing Editor in consultation with the Board.  Board members shall be elected to three-year terms, staggered as necessary to ensure that approximately one-third of Board positions are up for election in a typical year.
  6. Individual Board members may be removed for good cause by a two-thirds majority vote of remaining current Board members.

ARTICLE VIII: MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS

  1. There shall be an annual meeting of the membership at a time and place to be determined by the SC. Additional meetings of the members may be called by the SC and shall in any case be called by them upon petition signed by five percent (5%) of the current membership.

B.  The SC shall cause notice of any meeting it calls to be given to each member by whatever means necessary at least thirty days in advance.

  1. At any meeting of the membership, a quorum shall be 25 members or 7% of the membership, whichever is smaller. Votes may also be taken by by suitable alternative means with the same quorum for number of responses, provided that the ballot is sent to the entire membership.
  2. Elections to the SC and the Board shall be held at the annual membership meeting unless an alternative procedure is announced at least sixty days in advance of the election. All current members are eligible to vote in both elections.

E. Female URPE members have the right to meet as a caucus, with the right to elect a SC member by a majority of votes of at least 5members of the caucus at the annual URPE membership meeting, or by an alternative procedure announced at least sixty days in advance of the election.  Other groups have the right to meet as a caucus, and can apply to the membership for the right to elect one SC member by the same procedure.

  1. The business of the organization will be conducted by consensus when possible, and when not possible, by Roberts’ Rules of Order.

ARTICLE IX:  FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION

  1. The fiscal year of the corporation shall commence on October 1st of each year and shall end on the 30th day of September next following, provided, however, that the SC may at any time designate such other fiscal year as it may determine.
  2. In conducting URPE business, the National Office Coordinator, Managing Editor of RRPE, members of the SC, and members of the Editorial Board incur no personal liability except as dictated by law.
  3. SC members or employees responsible for financial holdings exceeding $3,000 (measured in 2002 dollars) must be bonded at URPE’s expense.
  4. An endowment fund for URPE may be established by the SC without separate incorporation procedures, unless such procedures are legally required by the state in which URPE is incorporated. Once created, the endowment fund shall be administered by an Endowment Committee that operates independently of the SC. The Endowment Committee shall consist of the URPE Treasurer and at least two other URPE members not serving on the SC. Its members will be chosen for their integrity and sound judgment by majority vote of the SC, and serve 5-year renewable terms.

 

ARTICLE X:  BY-LAW AMENDMENT PROCEDURE

  1. Amendments to these By-laws (hereafter, Amendments) may be proposed by a majority of current SC members or by any twenty current URPE members.
  2. Due written notice and description of any proposed Amendments shall be given in the notice of the next meeting of the SC or of the membership. Before any proposed Amendment is ratified, the membership must be given an opportunity to discuss it, either at the first membership meeting following the proposal or other suitable forum allowing the participation of all URPE members and announced in advance by the SC.
  3. Proposed Amendments may be ratified provisionally by a two-thirds majority of current SC members. All proposed Amendments, including those provisionally ratified by the SC, must be ratified within a year of their initial proposal by a two-thirds majority of the voting URPE membership, provided that ballots are submitted by at least 50 members or 15% of current URPE membership, whichever is smaller.  Any provisional Amendments that fail to be ratified by the URPE membership are immediately terminated, and may not subsequently be proposed for provisional ratification by the SC.

 

Amendments Approved by URPE Membership

December 2021

 

Amendment 1: Article VIII: Membership Meetings. Item E.

The amendment proposed provides for the formation of a caucus without specifying the criteria for membership, and for the procedures that would entitle it to elect one of the twelve members of the Steering Committee.

Any group of URPE members may form themselves into a “caucus” with membership limited as they see fit and with the goal of discussing issues relating to the URPE as an organization. A caucus may petition the SC for the right to elect one member (i.e. one of the 12 SC members), with voting limited to members of that caucus on provision of evidence that the membership of the caucus constitutes at least  25 members or 7% of the total URPE membership, (whichever is less) and with an explanation as to how the goals of the caucus are consistent with that of URPE. (Caucus members retain their right to vote in regular SC elections, but may register as members of only one caucus.) Based on this information, the SC will vote as to whether that caucus should have the right to elect an SC member. Subsequent to this, that right may be revoked if the membership of the caucus falls below 25 or 7% of the membership of URPE, (whichever is less) or if the SC deems the goals of the caucus to no longer be consistent with the goals of the organization. The procedures for nomination and election of an SC member from a caucus shall parallel that of the election of SC members as a whole.

A “Grandfather Clause” attached to this amendment would allow for a smooth transition from the formerly constituted “Women’s Caucus” to one that is currently designated as a “Caucus of Women and Non-Binary People.”

Grandfather clause.: The caucus of “female URPE members” described in the original By-laws (VIII E), whose members have been meeting under the name of “Caucus of Women and Non-Binary People” shall, based on the past history of the caucus, be granted the right to elect an SC member for the period of one year following the ratification of the by-laws amendments. In order to continue to exercise this right, the caucus will be required to petition, within that one-year period, for the right to continue such representation in accordance with the provisions for all such caucuses as provided in the revised clause VIII E above.

Amendment 2: Article VII: Editorial Board and Managing Editor. Item E. 

The revised article allows the Editorial Board to determine the maximum number of its members, should it wish to expand the Board’s membership beyond the currently allowed maximum of 30.

The Board shall consist of not less than twenty members and a maximum number of members to be determined by the Editorial Board. Board members shall be elected to three-year terms, staggered as necessary to ensure that approximately one-third of Board positions are up for election in a typical year.

Amendment 3:  Article VI: Officers and Duties. Item B.

The revision allows the elected President/Convener of URPE to delegate to the National Office Coordinator the duties assigned to that person, while retaining “ultimate authority and responsibility for oversight respecting the performance of these duties.” (This clause is already in place to provide for the delegation of the duties of the Treasurer and Secretary of the organization and so it makes sense that this option is also the case for the President and corresponds to our current practice.)  

The President/Convener shall be responsible for convening meetings, conveying advance notices of same, composing meeting agendas, assigning tasks to SC members, and overseeing their completion. The President/Convener may delegate any of these duties to the National Office Coordinator, but retains ultimate authority and responsibility for oversight respecting the performance of these duties.

 

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