By-Laws of the Political Communications Section of the American Political Science Association

Revised Fall 2015
approved at APSA business meeting

PREAMBLE:
            The Political Communications Section of the American Political Science Association exists to promote and disseminate research in and teaching of all facets of political communications and to encourage the interchange of ideas about political communications within the Section, and with our disciplines, practitioners, and interested persons.

ARTICLE I.   MEMBERSHIP

Section 1.        Members of the Section
            All regular and affiliated members of the American Political Science Association are eligible for membership. Membership in the Section is established by payment of annual Section dues to the American Political Science Association.

Section 2.        Meetings
            Annual meetings of the Section will be held in conjunction with Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association. Announcements of the meeting will be printed in the program of the American Political Science Association.

Section 3.        Annual Dues
            Annual dues shall be established by majority vote at the Annual Business Meeting of the Section and shall continue in effect until changed by majority vote of a subsequent Meeting. The amount of dues shall be recommended to the Annual Business Meeting by the Executive Committee or by two or more individual members of the Section.

ARTICLE II.  OFFICERS

Section 1.        Executive Committee

            The Annual Meeting of the Section shall elect an Executive Committee consisting of a Chair, Vice-Chair, Program Chair, Secretary/Treasurer, Chair of the Nominating Committee and two Members-at-Large. The Chair, Vice-Chair, and Secretary/Treasurer of the Section shall be elected together in even-numbered years for a term of two years. The Chair of the Nominating Committee shall be elected for a term of three years. The Program Chair and two Members-at-Large of the Executive Committee shall be elected annually. All of these section officers shall be elected at the Annual Business Meeting of the section. The Chair shall appoint an editor of the Section newsletter when the position, which rotates between the APSA and the ICA, is the responsibility of APSA. 
            The Executive Committee will advise Section officers on the conduct of their duties, make recommendations to the Annual business Meeting, audit and approve the Secretary/Treasurer’s report, propose amendments to the by-laws, and interpret by-laws. The Executive Committee shall fill vacancies in its own membership until the next regularly scheduled election. The Executive Committee will be responsible for membership and development of the section and for liaison with other organizations.

Section 2.        Chair
            The Chair will schedule and preside at the Annual Business Meeting and meetings of the Executive Committee, serve as liaison between the Section and the APSA, and undertake action requested by the Executive Committee or required in the interests of the Section. The Chair will be responsible for representing the interests of the Section to the APSA, regional associations, and other organizations.

Section 3.        Vice-Chair
            The Vice-Chair is the Chair-Elect and succeeds the Chair at the end of the Chair’s two-year term. The Vice-Chair will assist the Chair and will assume the duties of the Chair when the Chair is not present. The Vice-Chair will succeed to the office of Chair in the case of an unscheduled vacancy in the Chair.

Section 4.        Secretary/Treasurer
            The Secretary/Treasurer shall keep minutes of meetings of the Section and the Executive Committee and will communicate to the membership and to other organizations on behalf of the Executive Committee. The Secretary/Treasurer shall also maintain financial records of the Section and be responsible of submitting an annual financial report to the Business Meeting of the Section and to the APSA.

Section 5.        Program Chair
            The Program Chair will organize scholarly meetings, convention panels, and other programs for the APSA, regional associations or related disciplines a requested by the Executive Committee. In carrying out these duties the Program Chair will make an effort to assure that the various interests of the association are represented.

Section 6.        Chair of the Nominating Committee
            The Chair of the Nominating Committee is responsible for appointing members to the Nominating Committee, convening the Nominating Committee, and ensuring that the nominations for office of the Nominating Committee are made available to the Secretary/Treasurer in order for that officer to circulate the slate of nominations to the membership of the Section at least 10 days in advance of the annual meeting of the Section.

ARTICLE III. COMMITTEES

Section 1.        Nominating Committee
            The Nominating Committee shall solicit the members of the Section for nominations. The committee shall draw up a slate of candidates which gives weight to names put forward by membership, especially those names receiving several mentions, and which represents the various fields and diverse interests of the Section. Positions on the Nominating Committee shall be filled at the discretion of the Chair of the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee must have four (4) members to conduct business.

Section 2.        Awards Committee(s)
            The Executive Committee of the Section shall have the discretion to appoint committees to administer awards offered by the Section. Each awards committee shall have a membership of no fewer than three (3) individuals. Appointments will be made annually by the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall also appoint a chair for each committee. The awards the Section presents are as follows: Murray Edelman Lifetime Distinguished Career Award, Doris Graber Outstanding Book Award, Paul Lazarsfeld Best Paper Award, the Tim Cook Best Graduate Student Paper Award and the Best Dissertation Award. In addition, the section jointly awards the David Swanson Career Achievement Award with the ICA Political Communication Division. The committee for that award is appointed jointly by both the APSA section and ICA division. That award, as well as the Edelman Award, is given biannually in rotating years.

Section 3.        Joint Publications Committee
            The Joint Publications Committee shall consist of a chairperson and six members, three appointed by the political communication division of ICA and three appointed by the political communication section of APSA. The chairperson will be appointed by the APSA section in 2014 and the ICA division in 2017, passing back and forth every three years. Members of the committee will serve three-year terms, and one member of the committee will be elected each year by the section membership. A vacancy among the ICA representatives will be filled by the chair of the ICA division, and a vacancy among the APSA representatives will be filled by the chair of the APSA section. The Joint Publications Committee will be responsible for choosing an editor and/or editors for the journal Political Communication and for Political Communication Report (PCR). Members of the committee may also consider the development of new publication outlets sanctioned by the section.

            The Political Communication Section of APSA will elect one member of the committee each year at its business meeting.

Section 4.        Ad-Hoc Committee(s)
            The Chair of the Section shall have the discretion to appoint Ad-Hoc Committees for the purpose of assisting with Section business, subject to the approval of the Executive Committee. Ad-Hoc Committees automatically disband at the end of the term of the Chair appointing them.

ARTICLE IV.  ELECTIONS

            The Nominating Committee shall deliver its slate of nominees to the Secretary/Treasurer in order for the Secretary/Treasurer to publish the slate to all members of the Section at least ten (10) days in advance of the Annual Business Meeting. In addition to the Nominating Committee slate, additional candidates nominated and seconded at the Annual Business Meeting shall be placed in nomination.
            Election shall be determined by plurality of votes cast by all those members present and voting at the Annual Business Meeting or voting by email ballots submitted by the date of the Business Meeting. The outgoing Executive Committee shall resolve all questions regarding the process or outcome of elections. Newly elected officers shall assume their responsibilities at the conclusion of the Annual Meeting.

ARTICLE V.  AMENDMENTS TO THE BY-LAWS

Section 1.        Implementation
            These by-laws shall be published in the Section newsletter and made available on the Section website. Provision shall be made in the same newsletter for an e-mail ballot of the members. The by-laws shall become effective upon approval of a majority of the members submitting ballots up to one month following the publication of the by-laws.

Section 2.        Amendment
            Amendments to the by-laws may be proposed by the Executive Committee, or by petition of two (2) members of the Section. Proposed amendments shall be published in the Section Newsletter or via e-mail prior to the annual meeting or an electronic vote of the members. The by-laws may be amended by a majority of the members present and voting at an annual meeting or by a majority of those submitting electronic ballots up to one month following the publication of the by-laws.