Concurrence or Consensus
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CONCURRENCE OR CONSENSUS
Concurrence is the act of agreeing - or concurring – with a position and is used as an alternative to consensus in selected cases. Leagues may concur with a position arrived at by another League or Leagues, a position stated by a resource committee, reflecting widely-held views, or a position of long standing which they wish to reaffirm.
In preparation for Concurrence, the resource committee prepares the statement and any background material that may be necessary. The statement is to be judged exactly as it is written and may not be amplified or made subject to conditions. It is not a question. LWVCT Board approves the statement before it is sent to local Leagues for their input.
Consensus requires the same thorough examination of all facets of the issue by a committee. Background materials and presentation outline are produced by the study committee and distributed to all local Leagues prior to the consensus meeting. However, instead of producing a statement to be concurred with by the membership, the resource committee frames questions to form the framework for member discussion. The consensus statement will be based on the points that will ultimately be a part of the position. Member agreement (not a vote) emerges from the give-and-take of group interaction and exchange of views.
The LWVCT board must approve the proposed questions for consensus. The committee then prepares a consensus statement which will become a position upon approval of the LWVCT board.
In either case, local League boards decide how the issue will be presented to the membership: a general meeting, a bulletin article with a tear off for individual responses, or a combination of both. The state study committee should have as broad geographical distribution as possible. Committee members should be drawn from various backgrounds to provide a variety of points of view. Member participation is key: it is impossible to form a new position based on very small member participation. Thus, the LWVCT board may decide that not enough members have taken part in the agreement process and that the consensus/concurrence has not occurred.
January 3, 2005 |
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