Research Committees

These statutes were first approved by majority vote at the business meeting of the RC41 in Bielefeld, Germany, July 20, 1994, by mail ballot carried on in Fall 2006 whereby three changes were made to the RC41 during the business meeting in Durban, South Africa, July 2006; and further revised by mail ballot carried out in May 2013. They were ratified at the Yokohama meeting in 2014 and again by the RC41 Board in 2016

STATUTES OF THE COMMITTEE ON SOCIOLOGY OF POPULATION (RC41)

I. PURPOSE

The purpose of the Research Committee is to pursue a broadly based approach to the interrelationship between sociological and demographic phenomena. Specifically, the Research Group is concerned with how sociological phenomena affect population structure and processes and vice versa. Both macro and micro approaches are encouraged as well as research addressed to integrating these two levels of analysis. The Research Group will focus on conceptual and methodological development with the primary goal being an integrated and cumulative approach to the study of the articulation between population and social structure. Emphasis will be placed on cross-cultural research with a maximum exchange of research findings. Special attention is given to policy-relevant research.

II. ACTIVITIES

A. To fulfill this purpose the RC41 engages in the following activities:

1. It organizes the sessions on sociology of population at the meetings of the ISA.
2. It sponsors the interim meeting (at least one between ISA world congresses), international seminars, workshops and meetings that will advance research in population studies and relevant fields.
3. It arranges for the publication of matters of importance in its major research area of population and interrelated topics, such as migration, aging, race and ethnicity
4. It provides an international roster of population sociologists for individuals and organizations seeking consultation or research associates on topics relevant to the RC41 mission.
5. It seeks to keep its members informed of RC41 activities.
6. It engages in additional activities approved by the executive officers with the consent of the membership.
7. It provides a newsletter to the membership at least twice annually.

III. MEMBERSHIP

A. A distinction is made between two types of individual membership:

1. ‘Regular members in good standing,’ defined as financial members of both the RC41 and the ISA
2. ‘Affiliated members,’ defined as financial members of the RC 41 only.

B. Regular, affiliated, or student membership of the committee is open to all members of national sociological societies, members of research institutes affiliated with the ISA, research oriented members of national and international family organizations, as well as non-affiliated individual scholars who have demonstrated interest in the area through teaching or research activities.

C. The RC41 offers Life Membership, as of 2014, to those who are 70 years old and who are regular members in good standing and have obtained Life membership with the ISA.

D. The individual becomes a member upon payment of dues. Non-payment of dues lead to loss of membership six months after the final period paid for.

E. Dues are payable to the ISA secretariat. The amount is decided at the business meeting for the coming four year period for regular, affiliated, as well as for student membership.

F. All regular and affiliated members of the RC41 shall be entitled to vote as individual members in the discussions about organizational matters at the General Meetings according to the principle "one member, one vote" that means that one institution also has one vote.

G. Membership of its Board, throughout the four years of the Board’s mandate, is restricted to the committee’s regular members in good standing.

H. All regular and affiliated members shall be entitled to:

1. Participate in the scientific activities of the RC41
2. Receive the newsletter issued by the RC41 free of charge

I. All regular and affiliated members shall be obliged to

1. Uphold the present Statutes of the RC41 and to adhere to the stipulations of the present Statutes.
2. Conscientiously fulfill the tasks entrusted to them by the General Meeting or other bodies of the RC41.
3. Pay their fee for the respective period (i.e., 4 years).

IV. OFFICERS

A. There will be a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary and a Treasurer, and four officers at-large.

B. They will be elected from and by the membership and will constitute the executive Board of the RC41.

C. Each member of the Board must at all times be:

1. a member in good standing of the ISA in accordance with the ISA Membership standards, and
2. a member in good standing of the RC41.

D. Temporary vacancies in the Board between consecutive ISA World Congresses may be filled by appointment by the President, in accordance with ISA Statute 4.5.

E. The places of any Board member not in good standing with either the ISA or the RC41 may be declared temporarily vacant by the President, at the President’s discretion, and the vacancy filled according to paragraph IV (D).

F. Should the President fail to carry out his/her presidential responsibilities or allow his/her membership to lapse, the Secretary or the Treasurer is required to inform the Board and to serve a six-month period of grace notice on the President. Should the irregularity not be resolved by the end of this period, the Secretary or Treasurer is required to inform the Board and to refer the matter to the ISA Secretariat. The Vice President, or, if s/he is unable, one of the Board members, identified by the Board, will assume the responsibilities of the President of the Board in the case of the death, incapacitation, resignation, or other inability of the incumbent to carry out the responsibilities of the office of the President.

V. REVISION OF THE STATUTES

A. Any proposal for amendments to the Statutes may be made by any member of the Board, or by any five members in good standing of the RC41.

B. Such a proposal must be received by the Board at least six months prior to the World Congress.

C. The proposal will be circulated among all RC41 members, together with an explanation of its rationale, at least three months before the next World Congress. The Board will be entitled to propose amendments, to be circulated at least one month prior to the World Congress.

D. The proposed amendments will be put to the General Meeting, and adopted if approved by a two-thirds majority at the business meeting held during the World Congress.

VI. .ELECTIONS

A. Elections of officers will be held by ballet or unanimous consent once every four years at the General Meeting held during the ISA World Congress. (But see exceptions below)

B. Nominations for all officers should be submitted to the RC 41 Secretary along with a short biographical sketch of the nominee at least three months prior to the ISA World Congress. The RC41 Secretary will then circulate the nominations to the entire RC41 membership no later than 45 days prior to the ISA World Congress.

C. All members in good standing with ISA and RC41 are eligible to nominate candidates to office.

D. Nominated candidates shall be regular members of the RC41. They shall confirm their preparedness to accept the respective position on the Board prior to the circulation of their names as nominees by the RC41 Secretary 45 days prior to the ISA World Congress. In case they are elected they must remain a regular member in good standing for the duration of their mandate. Once a nominee accepts the nomination they are encouraged to submit any further relevant biographical information to the RC41 Secretary for circulation to the membership. Any further relevant information must be submitted to the Secretary prior to the 45 days deadline for circulation to the membership.

E. It is expected that there will be two nominations for each office, but this is not mandated. In the event of only one nominee per office, as long as the nomination is appropriately circulated and with majority consent of the membership, the nominee should be eligible for consideration and may be voted to office at the General Meeting during the ISA World Congress.

F. Traditionally the RC 41 has elected its officers during the ISA World Congress and this revision sustains this practice. However, all members in good standing will receive an electronic ballot at the time that the final list of nominees is circulated to the membership 45 days prior to the ISA World Congress. Specific instructions in this mailing will inform members in good standing unable to attend the ISA World Congress to submit their ballots electronically (as an attachment to an electronic mail) to the Secretary, Vice President and Treasurer within 10 days of the ISA World Congress. Specific dates will be given to coincide with the ten day mandate prior to the beginning of the ISA. The Secretary, Vice President and Treasurer will individually tally the electronic votes received and will bring their totals to the General Meeting. Once the ballots are cast at the General Meeting, a subcommittee of the Board will review the three absentee ballots independent tallies and will announce the totals. Concurrently, another subcommittee of the Board will tally the ballots cast at the General Meeting and final results will be announced to the membership attending the General Meeting.

F. The Secretary and two at large members of the Board shall prepare a ballot listing all nominated candidates and space for write-in nominations along with the respective positions on the Board. In case of several nominations for the same position, the nominated candidates shall be listed in alphabetical order by surname. The ballot will be prepared and circulated electronically 45 days prior to the beginning of the ISA World Congress. Instructions for those unable to attend the ISA will be indicated with this mailing. The ballots will be prepared for voting at the General Meeting of the ISA World Congress.

G. If there is only one candidate for a particular office, the candidate will need 50% plus one vote in the ballots casts to be elected.

H. Receiving a majority of the votes cast will constitute election for President, Vice- President, Secretary and Treasurer.

I. Election of the officers at-large shall be according to whoever receives the greatest plurality of votes cast.

J. Run-off elections will be held if necessary, but will be done electronically and not at the General Meeting in order to be inclusive of the entire membership.

K. Term of office will be for four years with re-election limited to one term.

VII. DUTIES OF OFFICERS

A. The President

1. shall preside as chief executive of the RC41 at the meetings of the RC41 and its Board;
2. shall be responsible for seeing that the sessions of the RC41 at the ISA meetings are organized;
3. shall initiate and carry out policies in conformity to the RC41's purpose, as specified by the Board and the membership;
4. is responsible for communicating RC41 activities and plans to the members no less often than once a year; these include the time and place as well as the organizers of seminars and workshops and ISA sessions sponsored by the RC41, and will publish circular mails of the RC41.

B. The Secretary

1. shall report at least annually to the secretariat of the ISA, current and planned activities of the RC41 and other current matters of common concern;
2. shall prepare a membership list to be used for election purpose; and actively prepares and participates in the election process;
4. shall call for nominations to office at least six months prior to the ISA World Congress, shall send three additional monthly nomination reminders up to 90 days prior to the ISA World Congress;
5. shall circulate all nominations to include relevant biographical information to the membership 45 days prior to the ISA World Congress along with a ballot with detailed instructions for those not attending the World Congress; and shall further announce to the membership the time and place of the general meeting during the ISA World Congress;
6. the Secretary in collaboration with the, President, Vice President, Treasurer and at large Board members shall maintain the website which will include at least the following:

a. public pages with such information as: How to become a member and dues; announcements including upcoming and planned seminars; statutes; current officers (Board); current circular mails and back lists; abstracts of seminars; links; other information of general interest.
b. members' pages which includes at least: A current up-to-date list of members with expiration date of membership; contact information; institutional affiliation.

C. The Treasurer

1. is the financial officer of the RC41, makes disbursements under the over-all supervision of the Board, presents an annual report to the Board, including all transactions itemized, and shall report the committee’s financial affairs to members at least at every ISA world congress;
2. Participates in the Election process, tallies all absentees’ ballots and ballots cast at the General Meeting. Prepares final election results and submits to the entire membership;

D. The Vice-President

1. shall assist the President in the preparation of the RC 41 program for the ISA world congress and as necessary for all other sponsored meetings and activities of RC 41;
2. shall assist the Secretary, Treasurer and Board members with all components of the Officers Election process;
3. shall become Acting President in the event that the President becomes disabled or resigns;
4. shall substitute the President in the representation to the ISA and or in other sponsored activity of the RC41 in case of his/her unavailability.

VIII. BOARD OF THE RC41

A. The Board meets at least once every two years prior to the World Congress to set general policy for the RC41. Board meetings can be face-to-face as during the interim meeting or electronic.

B. Major new activities undertaken by the RC41 must first be approved by the Board, or the membership at large, as necessary.

C. The Board elects one representative and one alternative to the Research Council of the ISA.

IX. SUB-COMMITTEES

All sub-committee members must be regular members in good standing of ISA and RC41 and should reflect the international composition of RC41.

A. Program Committee for the ISA World Congress

1. RC41 session organizers for the ISA World Congress program held will constitute a four- year subcommittee that:

1. shall assist the President and Vice President in all decisions relevant to the structure, preparation and submission of the final World Congress program and any other interim meeting between ISA world congresses.
2. shall be a standing committee for a four- year period, immediately following the ISA World Congress; individual members may choose to step down and be replaced by the session organizers of an interim meeting or activity. If individual members choose to remain active with RC41the entire four year period, they will participate in the preparation of the interim meeting;
3. shall be reconstituted every four years in preparation for the ISA World Congress;
4. shall along with the Board of RC41 consider offers from RC41 members or representatives of other organizations to organize programs such as seminars and workshops under RC41 sponsorship or joint sponsorship;
5. shall decide which offers to accept on the basis of the guidelines set forth in Article X;
6. shall along with the President and Vice President be involved in decisions relevant to the organization of an interim meeting, or the Sociology Forum, between two world congresses to include the call for sessions.

C. Sub-Committees
A subcommittee of the entire Board will be active every four years during the election period in assisting the Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary as needed in conducting a fair and unbiased election in all active RC41 members feely participate.

Other Subcommittees as needed, but may include:

1. The President, with the consent of the Board, may appoint such other sub- committees as is necessary to carry out the objectives of the RC41: For example, a sub-committee to organize the Forum of Sociology or another interim meeting between the two world congresses.
2. Terms of office of sub-committee chair and members shall not be longer than the term of office of the President.
3. Changes in sub-committee chairs must have Board approval.

X. RC41 OCCASIONAL ACTIVITIES

A. The membership of the occasional training or topic oriented program, such as seminars and workshops sponsored or co-sponsored by the RC41, should reflect its international composition.

B. The opportunity to participate should be made available to as many as possible.

C. Individuals who wish to organize a seminar or workshop may present their ideas to the RC41 President and the Board

D. Members wishing to participate may write to the organizers giving their competencies and interests.

E. Local organizers will have the final decision as to participants.

XI. RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

A. The RC41 as an international organization cannot itself engage in research activities.

B. In the rare circumstances when its Board decides that the RC41 should depart from a facilitating role and actively sponsor research, a majority of the membership at the general meeting must accept the decision.

XII. GENERAL MEETING

A. The general meeting of members shall be held in conjunction with the ISA world congresses.

B. Announcement of the general meeting will be given to members at least 45 days in advance along with a tentative agenda of business.

C. Action may be taken at any general meeting by a majority of members present and voting except in the case of election of officers. On any issue a majority of members present may request a secret ballot.

D. A written petition of 20 members to the President within six months of the general meeting can institute a mail or electronic ballot to the membership on any issue presented at the general meeting.

XIII. COOPERATION WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

A. The RC41 welcomes the efforts of other international and national organizations to promote the meeting of population/demography scholars and to encourage their research.

B. The RC41 seeks to cooperate with such organizations on issues of common interest through joint program sponsorship or such other activities as will serve to advance its purpose.

XIV. REVISION OF THE BY-LAWS

A. Statutes may be changed by board recommendation and approval at a formal business meeting at a RC41 function.