BY-LAWS
RELIGION AND POLITICS SECTION
AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION
PREAMBLE: The Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association promotes research and teaching on all facets of the relationship between religion and politics. The section also seeks to encourage communication and interchange of ideas with those interested in the subject within the association and in other disciplines.
ARTICLE I: MEMBERSHIP
Section 1: Membership in the Religion and Politics Section is open to all members and associate members of the American Political Science Association who pay section dues.
Section 2: Business meetings of the membership will be held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association. Announcements of the section business meeting will be included in the printed program distributed by the Association as well as communicated to all section members via e-mail and the section website.
Section 3: Annual section dues will be established at the Annual Business Meeting of the section and will continue in effect until changed by a majority vote of a subsequent Annual Business Meeting. The amount of dues will be recommended to the Annual Business Meeting by the Executive Committee.
ARTICLE II: EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AND OTHER SECTION OFFICES
Section 1: The section will be governed by an Executive Committee of six section members, with a seventh member serving in an ex officio capacity.
Section 2: The Executive Committee and section will be assisted by an officer elected or appointed to the position of Communications Coordinator.
Section 3: The duties and responsibilities of the Executive Committee are as follows:
A. Executive Committee. The Executive Committee will advise section officers on the conduct of their duties; propose amendments to the by-laws; make recommendations to the Annual Business Meeting; coordinate nomination and review performance of the section Journal Editor; audit and approve an annual financial report to the Association; and interpret the section by-laws. Except when the office of Chairperson is filled as described in Section 5, the Executive Committee will fill all vacancies in its own membership and other section offices until the next regularly-scheduled election or in accordance with provisions in Section 5.
B. Chairperson. The Chairperson will designate a Section Program Chair from the section membership to organize section panels for the annual meeting of the Association, represent the section as requested by the Executive Committee in dealings with regional associations and organizations in other disciplines, schedule and preside at the Annual Business Meeting and meetings of the Executive Committee, serve as liaison between the section and the Association, and otherwise undertake such actions as requested by the Executive Committee or required in the interests of the section.
C. Chairperson-elect. The Chairperson-elect will assist and advise the Chairperson in all the responsibilities assigned to that office. The Chairperson-elect will preside over Executive Committee meetings and the Annual Business Meeting in the absence of the Chairperson and will succeed to the office of Chairperson in the event of an unscheduled vacancy.
D. Secretary-Treasurer. The Secretary-Treasurer will be responsible for submitting an annual financial report to the Executive Director of the Association and for keeping minutes of meetings of the section and the Executive Committee.
Section 4: The duties of other section officers are as follows:
A. Communications Coordinator. The Communications Coordinator will oversee, coordinate, and update the design and informational content of the section website. The Communications Coordinator will serve as an ex-officio member of the Executive Committee.
B. Journal Editor. The Journal Editor will manage the dissemination of calls for papers, the selection and editing of scholarly submissions, and the production of the section’s professional journal.
Section 5: Nominations and elections for members of the Executive Committee and other section officers will be conducted at the Annual Business Meeting under the following provisions:
A. Members of the Executive Committee will normally be elected to scattered two-year terms with three being elected each year by secret ballot or acclamation (if only three nominees are presented) of the section members attending the Annual Business Meeting.
B. In the event of a contested election for members of the Executive Committee, each section member is entitled to vote for a maximum of three candidates for the Committee, and the leading three vote-getters will be deemed elected to the Committee. In the event of tie votes that would affect the composition of the Committee, section members attending the meeting will take another ballot among the tied nominees. Each member is entitled to cast as many votes as there are vacancies remaining to be filled. The vacancies will be filled by the leading vote-getters on the runoff ballot. The members of the Executive Committee will serve until the subsequent election.
C. The members of the Executive Committee will select a Chairperson-elect (to serve as Chairperson the following year) and a Secretary-Treasurer from among themselves.
D. The Executive Committee may, at its discretion, offer a slate of nominees for the Committee membership and/or endorse nominees for election to the Committee.
E. The Communications Coordinator will be elected to a two-year term by secret ballot or acclamation (if only one nominee is presented) of the section members attending the Annual Business Meeting.
F. The Executive Committee will coordinate the nomination and selection process for the office of Journal Editor and issue a “call for editors,” which will set forth the expectations and qualifications for the office. The Executive Committee will notify the section members of the call for editors via email, including the dates when the nomination process will commence and close, as well as the requirements for nominations. Section members may be nominated by other members or may self-nominate. After the closing date for submission of nomination materials, the Executive Committee will review all submissions and recommend to the section membership up to four qualified candidates for Journal Editor. Only the recommended candidates’ nomination materials will then be posted on the section website for membership review no later than two weeks prior to the Annual Business Meeting. The Journal Editor will be elected to a five-year term by secret ballot of a simple majority or by acclamation (if only one candidate is presented) of the section members attending the Annual Business Meeting. The Journal Editor will not be permitted to serve consecutive terms. The Journal Editor will submit an annual report to the Executive Committee on the status of the section journal. The report will be posted on the section website no later than two weeks prior to the Annual Business Meeting. At its discretion, the Executive Committee may subject the Journal Editor to a performance review according to the expectations stated in the original call for editors. The performance review will conclude no later than two weeks prior to the Annual Business Meeting. Poor performance may result in early removal of the Journal Editor. Early removal will be effective upon recommendation of the Executive Committee and by the approval through secret ballot of two-thirds of the section members attending the Annual Business Meeting. In the event of an early removal, resignation, or other unanticipated vacancy of the office of the Journal Editor, the Executive Committee will appoint an interim Journal Editor, if needed, and determine the timeline of events for transition to a new Journal Editor.
G. A reminder about the section election will appear on the section website during the summer. The results of the election, including the distribution of the offices among the members of the Executive Committee as well as for the offices of Communications Coordinator and Journal Editor as warranted, will be reported on the section website after the Annual Meeting.
ARTICLE III: AMENDMENTS AND MODIFICATIONS
Section 1: Amendments and modifications of the by-laws may be proposed at the Annual Business Meeting. If approved by a majority vote, the amendments and modifications will be submitted for approval to the section membership on electronic ballot distributed as soon as possible following the Annual Business Meeting. Amendments and modifications require support from two-thirds of the members who return electronic ballots.
Section 2: These by-laws will become effective upon approval by two-thirds of the section members attending the Annual Business Meeting.
Original Adopted: 9/4/87
Modified Version: 9/3/93, 7/9/07
Current Version Approved: 9/3/09
