Organisational Structure and Internal Party Democracy
We now have the opportunity to build a democratic organisational culture from the bottom up.
We need to engage with the wider membership to determine how we can structure ourselves to facilitate good communication, opportunities to identify the future leaders and the methods that we can achieve outcomes from a simple decision making process.
We are only restricted by the current Constitution until we can bring forward a number of motions and organise a Special General Meeting. At this Special General Meeting we can make a start on the changes needed and follow the rest up in the AGM in 2015.
Right now lets start the discussion. How should we structure the Party? From grassroots up to the Executive Board.
If you are meeting in local meetups or with other Internet Party People please provide summaries here in Loomio of what the thoughts are from you area of the country. You can attach documents or provide links elsewhere to support the summary
you write.
Lets keep this discussion based on organisational structure (lets keep policy talk in other threads) and we will examine how each suggestion achieves or does not achieve good internal party democracy.
Debbie Stanley
Sat 15 Nov 2014 4:49PM
I think we need a meeting if only to get the leadership talking to us but mostly I want to see them on here. Loomio gives the IP an opportunity to become something new, a genuinely representative party, but only if they develop it's potential.
Nicholas Greet
Tue 18 Nov 2014 11:01PM
Do we still need the internet party and if the answer if yes, then get down to basics, also, and I mean this in the affirmative - revote on party president and leader, the founder, an executive committee and sub-committees to take us forward.
Michael Tue 21 Oct 2014 1:11PM
I thought I might summarise the structure as I interpret it from the Internet Party's Constitution.
Currently the Executive Board is made up of appointed positions only. All members of the Internet Party Assets Incorporated were appointed, with the Party President being selected from this group of people. The board then selected a Party Leader by ranking its choice as the number one candidate for the 2014 elections. By virtual of being ranked first the leader also became an Executive Board member.
Based on the Constitution when we do hold our AGM the Executive Board next year will then be made up of the following:
- Party President (to be elected)
- Party Visionary (Kim or an alternative person appointed)
- Party Secretary (appointed)
- Party Leader (appointed)
- Additional Member 1 (to be elected)
- Additional Member 2 (to be elected)
- Additional Member 3 (to be elected)
- Additional Member 4 (to be elected)
- Additional Member 5 (to be elected)
No other structure is supported or decision making process outside what is decided by the Executive Board and then delegated.
While it provides members the opportunity to be counted, it does not outline how this is done. I believe we must recognise that this Constitution serves us only for 2014 and it will need to be amended with additional clauses introduced.
Michael Tue 21 Oct 2014 1:49PM
What about Grassroots? The Executive Board supported us forming meetup groups but this was an informal way to bring local people to meet each other.
Do we want to create branches or try to focus on using the internet better to engage and link us all ?
My personal thoughts is that small localised branches are old school, an old approach to provide a party's membership to participate in the party when communities were isolated from one another. We now have the tool of the Internet to speak and connect to everyone.
I still feel local events, local issues need to be attended to by people who know the area. I suggest we still look into an organisational level between the Executive and the individual members to act as Coordinating Committees. These would act like branch committees of other parties in some of their function but look after a much broader area.
For example we could split the South Island into three areas. Lower South Area to look after Southland and Otago; a Canterbury Area; and a Upper South Area to look after West Coast, Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough (I attach one idea how we could divide NZ into 13 areas).
As the sole purpose of these groups is to ensure we have meetups, attend local meetings, and organise opportunities to be seen we don't need too many. Unlike other parties our decision making would be more liquid and online.
Ross Burrows Tue 21 Oct 2014 6:00PM
Still wanting to shuffle the deck chairs? I propose that we hold a meeting to send out a search party for our former leaders, and decide wether the party still exists or not . . .
Matthew Chipping Tue 21 Oct 2014 7:16PM
I'm with Ross on this one. We really need to know whether the party still exists or not.
Fred Look Tue 21 Oct 2014 10:23PM
Yes good to revisit the constitution. It looks like the exec committe can either dissolve IP or hold an AGM next year. My guess is that they are considering dissolving as they must now. This is a difficult decision and they will take some time. There is in the constitution no requirement to communicate with us and what can they say at this point? We wait.
Ross Burrows Tue 21 Oct 2014 10:47PM
You're guessing aren't you? that's my point. What makes you think anybody's meeting and deciding anything?
Since the election, I've become a professional skeptic.
In the absence of any tangible evidence that executives still exist, the former leadership is AWOL, and must be guilty of dereliction of duty to report to the membetship.
A simple "we're working on it" would suffice. Hasn't happened.
I say let's not wait . . .
Michael Tue 21 Oct 2014 10:50PM
@rossburrows @fredlook @adamchennells The Executive is a bit thin in numbers. Who do we want to hear from?
In Auckland a few of us have had a post election meetup and got Laila along.
We discussed where we go from here. If we wanted a political party to champion the issues that bring us all together or if we seek to establish ourselves in some other form.
From general members we got a sense that we want to build a structure and fulfil the promise of establishing a political party that can promote the ideals and potential of the Internet in politics and our lives. We agreed to meet again and bring ideas to the table on how to structure ourselves. Because we lack structure and without all the people that worked on the campaign these resources and lines of communication have gone. Until we establish ourselves to move forward in some form nothing will progress.
The reality is on election night Kim did say he will step back from the limelight and maybe this means his position on the Executive so we do need to know what this means. Also, our President has more or less moved on to a new start-up. We may need to appoint someone to act until an AGM is held.
The Executive Committee can propose to dissolve the party but it still needs the members to agree. In either case an AGM or special General Meeting will have to occur.
The party was founded on the principles of the internet while the framework is not in place to promote its membership base in having the power to decide together, thats what we need to do. The next step we need is to use loomio and the internet to make it happen... we need to use the internet to create the chatter to build momentum and get being deciding the future.
Michael · Tue 21 Oct 2014 12:50PM
The current Internet Party Constitution is attached. You can also find this on the internet.org.nz website.