0. Preamble:

The world’s wealth is produced by us, the working class. We ought to enjoy the benefits.

We want to abolish the system of capitalism which places wealth and power in the hands of a few, and replace it with workers control and socialism.

We stand for a new society where there will be no bosses, politicians or bureaucrats. A society which will be run in a really democratic way by working people, through councils in the workplaces and community. We want to abolish authoritarian relationships and replace them with control from the bottom up – not the top down.

All the industries, all the means of production and distribution will be commonly owned, and placed under the management of those working in them. Production will be organised and planned by the federation of workers councils, not for profit but to meet peoples’ needs.

We are opposed to all coercive authority, we believe that the only permissible limit on the freedom of the individual is that they do not encroach on the freedom of others.

We do not ask to be made rulers nor do we intend to seize power “on behalf of the working class”. Instead we hold that socialism can only be created by the mass of ordinary people.

Anything less is bound to lead to no more than replacing one set of bosses with another.

We are opposed to the state because it is not neutral, it can not be made to serve the interests of workers. The structures of the state are only necessary when a minority seeks to rule over the majority. We can create our own structures, which will be open and democratic, to ensure the efficient running of everyday life.

We are proud to be part of the tradition of libertarian socialism which has taken root in the working class of many counties because it serves their interests – not the interests of the power seekers and professional politicians.

In short we fight for the immediate needs and interests of the working class under the existing set up, while seeking to encourage the necessary political understanding and activity to overthrow capitalism and its state, and lead to the birth of a better society.

1. Name:

(a) The name of the organisation shall be Praxis.

2. Membership:

(a) Membership of the organisation is open to all who agree to abide by its constitution and pay dues

(b) Prospective members should have attended at least two meetings, and be accepted as members by their branch, before becoming members.

(c) Branches may suspend the membership of any member, such a suspension to be notified to all members through the Internal Bulletin. If the branch does not lift the suspension, the member concerned may appeal to the Conference which will decide whether that person is to retain membership. Branches should take reasonable steps to resolve conflicts by mediation and discussion before suspending membership.

(d) To have voting rights at a meeting, a member must have attended at least one of the four preceding meetings. Members without voting rights are still able to contribute in all other ways.

3. Branches:

(a) The basic unit of the organisation is the branch, which consists of at least three persons in a given area or workplace.

(b) Where no branch exists in an area, members will be attached to the nearest branch and considered full members of it.

4. Conference:

(a) Members meet in Conference at least once every six months to review their activities, decide policy, elect the officers and delegate other responsibilities. Conference will be held in March and September of each year. The March conference is to deal primarily with matters of policy and development of ‘position papers’ & ‘policy statements’; the September conference to deal primarily with election of officers, perspectives and our activity plans for the coming year. Both conferences shall open with a discussion of perspectives and will take reports from officers and committees. Matters inappropriate (e.g. proposed new ‘position papers’ at a September conference) will not be dealt with until the agenda of appropriate items has been finished. Conference may, by majority vote, modify or suspend the agenda.

(b) All members are entitled to attend and vote at Conferences.

(c) Conference is the supreme decision making body.

(d) Prior to Conference all members will receive an agenda.

(e) Where members are unable to attend, they may have a proxy vote cast on any specific issue they wish.

(f) Proxy votes may only be cast when they clearly correspond to a specific item on the agenda.

(g) Any branch may call an extraordinary Conference if at least four weeks notice is given in the Internal Bulletin.

5. The Delegates Council

5.1 The Delegates Council is responsible for the day-to-day co-ordination of the organisation’s work between conferences. The Delegates Council is made up of delegates from each branch, where at least three branches are in existence.

5.2 Secretary is responsible for the co-ordination of the Delegate Council. Each branch selects and mandates its delegates to the Delegate Council. Delegates are recallable by the branch if they fail to obey their mandate. Branches are encouraged to rotate their delegates. When a branch changes its delegates, the Secretary must be informed. No member is allowed to remain a member of the Delegate Council for more than 12 months consecutively.

Notice of Delegate Council meetings

5.3.1 The Delegate Council meets ordinarily once a month or more often if necessary. All members are entitled to attend and speak at the Delegate Council meetings, but only branch delegates have voting rights.

5.3.2 An agenda will always be circulated at least 10 days prior to meetings. Branches should arrange to meet and mandate their delegate in the week before the Delegate Council meeting. Items can be placed on the agenda by any
a) branch,
b) an individual submitting it in writing to the Secretary up to 11 days before the meeting.

5.3.3 Normally at least ten days notice of Delegate Council meetings should be given. However, if an urgent issue arises, which requires an emergency meeting, this requirement can be waived. Special meetings may be called
i) through a motion passed by a branch.
ii) through petition by one third of the membership,
iii) at the request of one third of the delegate council delegates,
iv) at the request of any two officers.

Holding the Delegate Council meeting

5.4.1 The Secretary will attend all Delegate Council meetings. The Treasurer and International Secretary need not do so unless
i) they have not provided a detailed, written report in the three weeks before the Delegate Council meets,
ii) a branch has requested they attend the meeting.
None of the officer bearers has a vote at the Delegate Council meeting.

5.4.2 For a meeting of the Delegate Council to be quorate, at least 50% of delegates must be present (attendance at such meetings can be via telephone conferencing where necessary).

5.4.3 Each branch of the organisation able to provide the needed infrastructure will host the Delegate Council in rotation. The host branch will provide the minute taker for the meeting in addition to their delegate.

Delegate Council decision making

5.5.1 Decisions made by the Delegate Council must reflect policy as decided by Conference.

5.5.2 The Delegate Council may initiate discussion with a view to encourage discussion of particular issues in branches or with a view to changing policy at the Conference.

5.5.3 The Delegate Council can set interim policies. These interim policies must be compatible with the general section of existing position papers. A vote of 2/3 of a Delegate Council meeting is needed to delete the short-term perspectives section of a position paper. A simple majority is sufficient to add section to the short tem perspectives section of a position paper. The Secretary is responsible for co-ordinating and tallying this vote with the assistance of Branch Secretaries.

5.5.4 All branches are required to implement decisions made on items contained in the agenda circulated 10 days before the Delegate Council meeting. The Delegate Council may discuss items that are not on the agenda and make non-binding suggestion to branches. These should be returned to at the next Delegate Council meeting, after branches have had the chance to mandate delegates, and either be overturned or upgraded to decisions.

5.5.5 Conference may overturn any decision of the Delegate Council.

Branch Liason Officers (where the organisation does not maintain three or more branches)

5.6 Individual officers will be appointed by the organisation to co-ordinate effective action until branches are established.

Interim Steering Group

5.7 Until such time as functional branches are established, the organisation’s chief executive body will be an interim steering group, composed of office bearers and branch liason officers.
5.8 All members will be encouraged to take part in the Interim Steering Group by attending its meetings and taking part in its internal democracy.
5.9 The Interim Steering Group will function according to the same decision making arrangements as the delegate council.
5.10 The Interim Steering Group will conduct quarterly reviews into branch functionality, with a view to encouraging full branch democracy as one of its primary tasks. These quarterly reviews will matched against an action plan for branch functionality drawn up at the first conference. Should three branches or more be deemed functional and capable of electing delegates, then the Interim Steering Group will dissolve itself and a full Delegate Council be established.

6. Commissions/Working Groups

Commissions/Working groups may be established to co-ordinate activities in various spheres of the organisation’s work.

These Commissions/Working Groups may be established in one of 3 ways:-

(i)by a motion passed by Conference

(ii) by a motion passed by Delegate Council

(iii) by a group of interested members

Commissions/Working Groups may develop draft policies to present to Conference but may not alter or delete any existing policy without the agreement of Conference.

Commissions/Working Groups may be established to co-ordinate the organisation’s work in specific campaigns

Any interested member may join a Commission/Working Group.

7. Organisational principles:

(a) All decisions are taken by majority vote.

(b) No position within the organisation, either at local or organisation-wide level, may be held by the same member for more than three years in succession.

(c) Minutes are kept of all meetings and are available to any member for inspection.

8. Minority rights:

(a) Official policy is that agreed at Conferences.

(b) Minorities who disagree with any policy or members who wish to act on an issue for which no policy exists, have the right to act as they see fit as long as they make it clear that their position does not reflect that of the organisation, and as long as such a position does not take them outside the constitution of the organisation. Such members must operate in such a way as not to contradict the general section of position papers.

(c) Members should be encouraged to debate and discuss and develop issues in full, both inside and outside the organisation.

9. Internal Bulletin:

(a) The IB will be produced at least once every quarter by the Secretary.

(b) It is sent to all members, and at the discretion of conference to sympathisers.

(c) The IB contains reports from Branches, Commissions, Office Bearers, etc. as well as proposals and discussion articles submitted by members.

(d) Members with an email address will be added to the organisations internal email list and can post to this list within whatever volume restrictions are agreed by the list. No message can be forwarded off this list without the permission of the sender – any member who forwards without permission may be removed from the list by the list maintainer.

10. Office Bearers:

(a) Conference elects a Secretary, Treasurer, International Secretary. It may create and fill other positions as it sees fit.

(b) All officers are subject to recall by the Delegate Council.

(c) The responsibilities of the Officer Bearers are:

Secretary

(i) To keep a record of all organisation-wide correspondence.

(ii) To produce the Internal Bulletin.

(iii) To be responsible for maintaining the mailing lists and web pages.

(iv) To place a report in each IB.

Treasurer

(i) To keep a record of all funds and financial transactions at an organisation-wide level.

(ii) To place in each IB a financial statement.

International Secretary

(i) To establish and maintain contact with similar organisations abroad, and to send them our publications and news of our activities.

(ii) To organise the translation of articles from foreign papers, and to be responsible for the writing of articles when requested by contacts abroad.

(iii) To place a report in each IB.

11. Publications:

(a) Conference elects the editorial groups for all the organisations publications and can mandate these groups as it sees fit.

(b) Where an article submitted for publication is rejected the author may request an explanation to be given in the IB.

(c) The responsibility for any other organisation-wide publications is also decided by conference.

12. Finance:

(a) Membership dues are ordinarily set at 1% of (gross) income. Unwaged or low waged members will not be required to pay dues.

(b) Any member more than three months behind in their dues is deemed to have resigned.

(c) Half of this money is retained by the branch, and half is sent to the Treasurer for the use of the organisation at a general level.

(d) Conference, or in its place the Delegate Council, may place a special levy on members to finance specific projects.

13. Organisation policy

13.1 The policy of the organisation is first and foremost the position papers as drawn up and amended by conference. All other policy decisions must be compatible with these position papers and are changed or reversed by any subsequent motions passed by conference. Position papers lapse after three years unless they are ratified by conference. The Secretary is responsible for ensuring that Position Papers due ratification are included in the agenda of conference

13.2 Position papers are divided into a general section and a short term perspectives section. The general section contains the theoretical position of the organisation on the question and should be framed in a way that will not allow it to become quickly dated. The short term perspectives section outlines the organisations policy on immediate questions and the tactics we intend to implement. This section lapses after two years unless it is ratified by Conference or Delegate Committee

13.3 Between conferences Delegate Council can set interim policies. These interim policies must be compatible with the general section of existing position papers. A vote of 2/3 of a Delegate Council meeting is needed to delete the short term perspectives section of a position paper. A simple majority, of the Delegate Council, is sufficient to add sections to the short term perspectives section of a position paper. It is the responsibility of each individual branch to mandate their delegate in advance of Delegate Council meetings and to ensure that they report back afterwards and have complied with their mandate. After Delegate Council meetings minutes will be circulated to members within seven days.

13.4 Individual branches can define their own policy on particular areas providing it is compatible with the Position Papers and decisions of Delegate Council. It is expected that this will be used to customise general tactics for local use and to generate policy tailored to specific local issues.

13.5 Individual members are free to engage in any political activity which does not contradict existing policy. In general they are expected to argue for and implement organisational policy in their public political work (ie in large scale general public meetings and similar gatherings). Where they disagree with existing policy they are free to argue – both within and outside the organisation – for a new policy, although they must make clear that they are not representing the organisation when arguing against its policies.

13.6 If individual members are speaking as a member of the organisation at any formal event they are expected not to contradict existing policies. This does not apply of they are speaking as a mandated delegate of a union or campaigning group. It also does not apply if they are speaking in an individual capacity at a debate or public meeting but in this case they should indicate that they are disagreeing with the policy of the organisation.

13.7 In Trade Unions and campaign groups members are expected not to argue against whatever tactics the organisation has agreed as a strategy for that issue. Again this does not apply where they carry a mandate from a section of that group or union.

If delegates are unmandated they are free to vote as they please provided their vote does not go against long term organisation policy.