Congressional Procedure

This page describes how the People’s Congress conducts its sessions.

The President

The President of the People’s Congress is responsible for the functioning of the Congress. Most notably, they preside over its sessions. When the Congress is in session, the President is in charge of the room. They direct debate, maintain order, and help the Congress find consensus through deliberation.

Sessions

During sessions, the President directs debate in accordance with the principle of Collective Deliberation. Every member has the right to be heard, and any member may put forward a topic for deliberation.

When presenting a topic, the member must end with “I call on the Congress to…”. The President may refuse a topic that does not meet these requirements. The President decides the order in which topics are discussed.

The President ensures no one is overlooked and that everyone who wishes to speak on a topic may do so once before anyone speaks a second time. Members may request to interject one another and may challenge the relevance of a speaker’s remarks. The President rules on any disputes.

The President records the positions adopted by the Congress publicly as consensus forms, and publishes a summary after the session. Every position must be written in active voice with a named subject. Every matter before the Congress ends in one of three ways: the Congress adopts a position, defers the matter, or dismisses it. When a matter is deferred, someone must be named to bring it back to the next session. The President does not close a matter until one of these three outcomes is reached.

Attendance

Members are expected to attend all sessions. Absent members hold back the Party’s work.

When a session was announced at least seven days in advance, the following procedure applies at the end of that session. The President names any member who was late or absent. A member who gave a reason in advance will have it read out by the President. A member who arrived late may present their reason themselves.

After hearing any reasons, the Congress votes on what to do. The options are:

• Excuse. Take no further steps.
• Fine. Fine the member 5 cc for late arrival, or 15 cc for absence.
• Expel. Remove the member from the Party.

The votes are counted as follows.

1. If a majority voted for no action, no action is taken.
2. Otherwise, if a majority voted to fine, the fine is imposed.
3. Otherwise, if a majority voted to expel, the member is expelled.
4. Otherwise, no action is taken.