Constitution
Adopted by vote of the Association on November 3, 2000, at the Loyola (Chicago) meeting.

Article I.
Purpose:
The purpose of the RPA is to foster the discussion of diverse currents of radical, critical philosophical thinking in the United States and worldwide, and to provide support for initiatives to implement such thinking along lines agreed to by a consensus of the membership.

Article II.
Membership:
Any person sympathetic to the Association's purposes is welcome to become a member.

Article III.
Officers and Committees:

Article III A.
The officers shall be a Coordinator (or two joint Coordinators) a secretary, a Treasurer, and SIX members of an Advisory Committee. Three of these committee members shall be the chairs of the three regional planning committees -- Eastern, Central, and Pacific. The remaining three members of the advisory committee will be elected from candidates that present themselves to the membership at the national meetings. If there is more than one chair of each divisional planning committee then one person will be elected as the divisional representative to the advisory committee. Racial and gender balance shall be an important desideratum within the Officers and Advisory Committee; accordingly, the Coordinator(s) will be expected to strive to encourage the achievement of such balance by canvassing the membership for suitable Advisory Committee candidates so as to permit the Committee to consist of as close to at least one-half women and one-third minority group members as feasible. Unless specifically stipulated, the term "advisory committee" shall be used in the remainder of this document to refer jointly to the coordinator(s), secretary, treasurer, and the six members of the advisory committee.

Article III B.
The terms of office of Advisory Committee members, and the Coordinator(s), Secretary, and Treasurer shall be for four years, renewable.

Article III C.
. The Association at its biannual national meeting shall vote on candidates for available advisory committee positions, or for the jobs of Coordinator(s), Secretary, or Treasurer. where only one candidate is elect the nominated candidate for the position. In all cases in which more than one candidate is nominated and seconded, a plurality vote by mail ballot of all dues-paying members will decide between or among them. If no national meeting is held after two years time then elections will be held at the membership's business meeting at the eastern division of the APA.

Article III D.
The Coordinator(s) shall have general charge of the affairs of the Association. The Coordinator(s) shall consult, in person or by telephonic, electronic, or postal communication, with the other Advisory Board members on any policy matters that the latter deem significant, and shall attempt to reach a consensus and to act upon it. The Coordinator(s) shall hold a formal meeting with the Advisory Committee members at the Association's biannual national meeting.

Article III E.
The Treasurer shall receive the Association's funds and disburse them as authorized by the Coordinator(s) and members of the Advisory Committee, recording all financial transactions and reporting them. Periodically to the Advisory Committee and annually to the Association.

ARTICLE III F.
The Secretary shall keep the membership lists of the association up to date, oversee the production of the annual membership directory, keep a record of changes to the constitution and other documents pertinent to the work of the society, and keep a record of the agendas the biannual national business meetings.

Article III G.
Regional planning committee chairs and their committees shall be charged with planning RPA programs for their respective APA divisional meetings and with communicating with the secretaries of the respective APA divisions to this effect.

Article III H.
Unless otherwise stipulated, the committee is empowered to make decisions on behalf of the society between national meetings of the association. Advisory committee decisions shall be made by majority vote. Any member of the committee may propose a motion to be decided by the committee. At any time, any member in good standing of the RPA may propose a motion to the advisory committee for a vote. The Advisory Committee may also decide to submit a matter of business which is not otherwise covered in this constitution to a poll of the membership in the interval between biannual national meetings, or, where possible, defer an issue to be decided for a vote at a national meeting. A majority of committee members must decide that the matter of business is of sufficient importance to justify an association wide decision. Any member may challenge a decision of the advisory committee at the business meeting of the national meetings of the association (see below) by presenting a petition of 10% or more of dues paying members at the national meeting. Overturning an advisory committee decision requires a simple majority vote of the membership.

Article III I.
Should an interim vacancy on the Advisory Committee between biannual meetings, the remaining members of the Committee shall canvas the membership, to the extent to which this is feasible, and choose a replacement to serve until the next biannual meeting. At that time, a candidate shall be selected to fill out the unexpired portion of the term of the position in which the vacancy occurred, in accordance with the procedures specified in Article III C above.

Article III J.
The advisory committee members will encourage and provide official sanction to project committees of the RPA. The purpose of such committees will include organization of publications and support mechanisms for the RPA (e.g., the associations' journal and newsletter) as well as coordinate the association's efforts on particular issues. Project committees deemed necessary for the day to day operation of organization shall be listed in the by-laws. The chair of each of these committees shall be elected by the membership of each project committee. Each project committee shall hold an election for its chair every four years and only members of project committees (those who regularly take part in the activities of a given project committee) are eligible to vote in the election of their committee's chair. Any ties in elections shall be referred to the advisory committee for resolution. Any disputes over members of a project committee eligible to vote shall be referred to the officers and advisory committee for resolution. The chair of each of these committees shall be expected to canvas the Association membership for volunteers to collaborate with her/him and constitute the committee. The total membership of each committee should normally range from 3 to 10, with racial and gender balance being maintained as far as is feasible. Each chair will be expected, on behalf of his/her committee, to submit an annual report of its activities, to be published in an issue of the Newsletter or other RPA publication. Project committee chairs may be elected to also serve as members of the national advisory committee. Separation of a project committee from the RPA shall require a majority vote to that effect both at the biannual national meeting and in a subsequent mail ballot of dues-paying members. When proposals are made for adding new Project Committees to the Association, these shall be subject to ratification by the Advisory Committee. ad hoc groups within the association, such as a group of more senior members volunteering to assist graduate student members in job searches or in publishing, may also receive official endorsement from the Advisory Committee, and the committee is free to waive project committee requirements for such groups, such as the necessity for regular elections, etc.

Article IV.
The Conduct of Business:

Article IV A.
The biannual national meetings shall consist of the presentations of papers and comments and of discussions of general questions of relevance to the Association, together with at least one session designated as a "national business meeting," chaired by the RPA coordinator(s). The business meeting will include, whenever possible, a report from the coordinator concerning the current state of the association, a treasurer's report, and reports from all RPA project committees. elections will also be held at this meeting. Association policy issues deemed important either by the Advisory Committee itself or by petition of 10% or more of dues-paying members -- including possible revision(s) of this constitution -- shall be debated and, if necessary, voted upon. In such cases, and when there is a substantial division of opinion among members present at the business meeting, a mail ballot shall be prepared to be submitted to dues-paying members, with arguments for the various positions being summarized and sent with the mailing, except in cases in which a majority of those present at the business meeting certify that immediate action is required. When such a judgment has been made, the majority vote of those present shall prevail.

ARTICLE IV B.
Revision of the constitution or by-laws can be proposed and discussed at the national meeting of the association. Revision to the constitution requires a two-thirds majority vote at the RPA national business meeting. Revision to the by-laws requires a simple majority vote at the national business meeting. Whenever possible, proposed revisions to the constitution or by-laws should be circulated to the membership prior to the national meeting, through the newsletter, electronic discussion list or other means.

Article IV C.
Revisions to this constitution go into effect upon adoption at the November 2000 national meeting. At that time current officers or divisional representative advisory committee members will begin a four year term. Unfilled positions will be elected by the membership (in the manner stipulated above) in the event that there are more candidates than positions available.

Bylaws

1. Standing project committees of the RPA will at least include the following:     
          A. Newsletter Committee: to coordinate the publication of the RPA newsletter;
          B. Review Editor(s): to coordinate publication of the Radical Philosophy Review (subject to by-law 2, below);
          C. Proceedings Editor(s): to coordinate publication of the proceedings series (subject to by-law 2, below);
          D. Internet Committee: to develop and maintain an RPA presence on the "web" and through other electronic media channels;
          E. Outreach Committee: to coordinate efforts to increase membership in the association and subscriptions to the association's publications.


2. As soon as possible, editors appointed for 1B and 1C above should establish procedures for appointing editorial and/or advisory boards for their respective publications if they have not already done so. Provisions should be made for rotation of the editors of these publications and their associated boards which will be self-sustaining, subject to review by the RPA advisory committee, and subject to a vote by the association membership as a whole. Elections of editors and editorial board members for 1B and 1C shall take place at the national business meeting.

3. In the absence of the formation of a project committee around one of these projects (or in the absence of a critical mass of members available to work on some future project deemed of interest to the association), the advisory committee may delegate an individual to take responsibility for the tasks of that project committee (e.g. appointing a single newsletter editor in the event that a committee does not form around producing the newsletter). An individual selected for such a job will be reviewed every four years.

4. Additional project committees may be formed through an appeal to the advisory committee and according to the procedure outlined in article IIIJ. At the time of ratification of this constitution, existing project committees shall be automatically reaffirmed as RPA project committees. The secretary shall keep a list of all current project committees and their membership.

5. Annual dues shall be set by the advisory committee in U.S. dollars and reviewed for amendment on a yearly basis.