Dear Committee Members:

 

Below is our joint summary, arising from your proposals of the Rules. We have tried to harmonize all of your views because most of the disputed issues have arisen from semantics and NOT from substantial disagreements. We hope, you will like these proposals. Of course, anyone can make new proposals, request changes, and addition any time.

 

Keep well: Jiri and George Sagi.

 

Worldwide Democracy Movement

WDDM

Rules of Membership and Conduct (Rules)

 

Preamble

WDDM is a voluntary movement of dedicated volunteers whose aim is to facilitate the people to govern their own societies. WDDM has no headquarters in any country. Members are acting independently in the country in which they live. Our Rules of Membership and Conduct (Rules) govern members only internally, and a guide internationally.

   WDDM is an international movement whose members rely mostly on the Internet for communication and decision-making by vote. As members of the Continuing Congress on Direct Democracy (CICDD) we will have conferences concurrentlyt. Initiated by dedicated members, we have established a Founding Coordinating Committee with 12 members. Based on democratic principles, the role of the ‘Founders’ is to lead the WDD Movement by overwhelming majority vote. The Coordinating Committee shall remain permanent until our membership increases to permit the rotation of its members.

   The Committee at the Founding Meeting established the following ‘Facilitating Functions’: Giuseppe Strano, Secretary; George Sagi, Spokesperson; and reconfirmed the decision of the 1st Congress  Jiri Polak, as Editor-in-Chief of the Newsletter of Worldwide Direct Democracy. It is desirable to rotate all Facilitating Functions. At this initial stage, the only function that has qualified individuals for rotation is of the Spokesperson’s. The Secretary shell remain permanent until a qualified volunteer will make him/herself available for that function.

   Proposals for a change can be posted any time by any member. All decisions can be changed any time when an overwhelming majority of our membership decides, for a specific change at a time. Detailed methods of executing these measures are given in the Rules of Conduct.

 

Membership Criteria

1.      Any individual, with sound mind and without a criminal record, can join our Movement by accepting our Founding Documents, Mission Statement, and the Membership Rules and Conduct. Initially, there is no membership fee, however, in the future, the members may vote for a membership fee.

2.      Each member shall be a subscriber to the ‘Newsletter’. 

3.      An application shall be posed by the Secretary for 2-weeks for discussions. If non of the members oppose the application for membership than the applicant shall be automatically adopted to be a member of WDDM.

4.       When opposed during the two weeks discussion period, the Secretary shall ‘Post’ the membership for voting for another 2-weeks. At the end of the 2-weeks, the secretary shall calculate and post the results.

5.      Approval or rejection of an application shall be validated by minimum 2/3rd of the votes, and the results shall be announced to the members and the applicant by the Spokesperson.

 

Responsibilities of the Organizing Committee (OC) and its Officers

      The Organizing Committee is responsible for the overall management of WDDM. Its members, individually in each country, and when required by joint action, shall be the driving force to initiate practical activities to make progress toward Direct Democracy.

a.       The ‘Signatories” of the Founding Documents - as a category - are the ‘Founding Members’ of WDDM.

b.      Each member of the Organizing Committee shall support and carry out  the decisions adopted by majority votes of the Committee and/or the by the membership.

  1. All decisions approved by 2/3 (66%) of the votes shall remain valid for at least a  6-months period, unless in an extremely urgent situation. This secures stability of the organization.
  2. If and when at least 30 individuals had become ‘Members’, all functions shall be posted for volunteers to rotate memberships within the OC.
  3. The Secretary, The Editor, and the Spokesperson and two Founding Members shall remain members of the OC for continuum and stability when rotation of membership within the OC begins.
  4. After reaching at least 30 members, the full membership shall approve the method of rotations, and any other proposal ‘Posted’, by minimum 2/3 (66%) of the votes cast.
  5. Each member of the OC and WDDM shall keep records of moneys received and expended. The financial records shall be sent to the Secretary for tabulating financial records of WDDM.

 

Making Changes

Generally, there shall be no changes in approved Functions and programs for a six-months period as stated, in Claus c., previously. If an urgent  need arises within the six-months period, any member can request changes at any time.

a)      Amendments and new proposals shall be specific, clear and concise. Amendments shall refer to the clause to be changed, when ‘Posted’ for discussions.

b)      New proposals and amendments should address one topic at a time and should go through

1.1.   Posting the request for discussions.

1.2.   A discussion period as long as the initiator of the proposal or after 2-weeks if a member requests a vote. Discussions should be conducted in a brief, rational, and polite manner.

1.3.   Voting as the Founding Documents state, is a moral duty of all members. Casting votes shall have a 2-weeks period.

1.3.1.      Some members maybe incapacitated to vote for some reason (working duties, vacation, sickness, etc).

1.3.2.      In such cases the tabulation the results shall be based on the number of total votes cast.

1.4.   A minimum of 2/3rd (66%) of identical votes shall either pass or defeat a proposal.

1.5.   After approval, a new principle, or a rule, or an action plan, must be accepted by all members and/or carried out conscientiously.

1.6.   Except extreme circumstances (death, breech of conduct, etc) no amendments to approved decisions shall be ‘Posted’ within a minimum of 6-months.

c)       All decisions are subject to change as stated in the Preamble and within these clauses.

 

Roles for Facilitating WDDM Affairs:

The Secretary

    The secretary shall be the Webmaster of WDDM. He is authorized to appoint helpers if necessary to accomplish this task.

a)      Any cost that arises from fulfilling this function and responsibilities shall be paid by the funds of WDDM or donations.

b)      The Secretary shall communicate with applicant for membership and advise them of the procedures leading to membership.

c)      He/she shall maintain and bring up to date the WDDM members list.

d)      The Secretary shall ‘Post’ requests  for ‘Discussion’ and ‘Posting’ for votes as stated in the section, ‘Making Changes’.

e)      The Secretary shall close discussions, scrutinize polls, record the official results of votes, and announce the results to the members via the listserver.

f)        He shall maintain and bring up to date the archives of  WDDM discussions, proposals, and voting results.

g)      Organize the best way to publicize archives, internally, for the formal CICDD and Pericles II members.

  1. Fulfill his role as the legally responsible person for the technical and functional aspects of WDDM. These include signing documents related to his function, protecting wddm.org registration, and implementing the decisions of the Coordinating Committee and/or of the membership. This includes tabulating the financial records of WDDM as defined under ‘Responsibilities of OC’.

 

The Spokesperson

     The Spokesperson has two main functions.

a.       One is necessary to officially announce decisions passed by the Membership and/or the OC,  to Pericles II members and to the CICDD

b.      The other is to facilitate the conduct of internal affairs, such as drafting documentations in cooperation with the ‘Editor’/‘Vice spokesperson’.

c.       The Spokesperson shall respond to the inquiries and proposals of the members and respond to questions addressed to WDDM by non-members and organizations.

d.      Carry out the decisions of the (OC) and the membership.

e.       Call for volunteers and/or seek the appointment of individuals to carry out decisions approved by votes.

f.        The Spokesperson shall demonstrate exemplary behavior and inspire the members of WDDM to perform their commitments dutifully and faithfully, in compliance with all the Founding Documents.

g.       With the support of the OC, the Spokesperson shall officially represent the WDDM, transact and sign documents on behalf of its members.

h.       After each 6-month-period, the Secretary shall call for volunteers to rotate and to become the Spokesperson when and if elected.

 

The Vice Spokesperson

   The Vice Spokesperson shall assist the Spokesperson to carry out the function of that assignment and act on his/her behalf if and when needed.

a)      The Editor-in Chief (Editor) and the publisher of the Newsletter of Worldwide Democracy Movement shall be the Vice Spokesperson.

b)      The Vice Spokesperson as ‘Editor’ is the most suitable function to gather and disseminate DD related information to the formal and informal members of CICDD and to the public through his Newsletter.

c)      The Vice Spokesperson as Editor, will no doubt, regularly print a brief description how to become a member of WDDM.