Rules of Procedure Edition 1

First, who moderates (controls) the debate? Your dais (DYE-uhs) is in charge of committee proceedings You can find who they are and their email on the web page of each committee You will submit your position papers to them before the conference You can use this opportunity to reassure the students that they don’t have to take meticulous notes about every single process described - the dais will handle most of the procedural knowledge the day of the conference. The only important things to consider and understand are the functions of the two speakers’ lists and the different types of caucuses, since those are students’ only opportunities to speak. The purpose of the other slides is to provide students/delegates with a basic understanding of what’s going on so that the dais, hopefully, doesn’t have to spend time during the day of the conference going over basic details (although they’d be more than happy to do so!).

What is ROP? ROP = Rules of Procedure The rules that Model United Nations debate proceed by in committee Parts: Formal debate Opening/Roll Call/Closing Primary and Secondary Speakers’ Lists Voting Bloc Informal debate Moderated caucus Unmoderated caucus Note: distinction between formal debate and moderated caucus, in practice, is very small - only difference is whether or not, at the end of a speech, one can/needs to yield time to the chair or another delegate. Unmod is completely different - no moderation, open floor (will be elaborated upon later on

This is what we will dissect today:

FORMAL DEBATE This part, except for the secondary speakers’ list, is only applicable for ~10 minutes during the conference, so if you want to skip through slides, feel free

Roll Call and Opening Debate Beginning of each committee session Dais will call roll Delegates’ role: raise your placard and say “present” or “present and voting” when called “Present and voting” means that a delegation must vote during any voting procedure during that session Opening: only during the start of day Delegates motion to open debate Students probably will ask what the difference between “present” and “present and voting” is. There is very little practical difference between the two, as most delegates do not abstain during votes, simply out of habit. However, you can tell them that declaring “present and voting” signifies to the committee that the delegation is committed to finding a solution, will be more engaged during debate, and will consider and vote on each resolution submitted. Opening: the dais will call the committee to order and ask if “there are any points or motions on the floor.” Any delegation may raise its placard and request a “motion to open debate.” Then, there will be a rubber-stamp vote to open debate. (Note: if delegates are ever confused or if the dais needs the committee to do a specific procedural thing, the dais will hint delegates to ask for a certain motion by using phrasing such as “the dais smiles upon a motion to [open debate]...”.)

“If there are any (points or) motions on the floor at this time, please raise your placards now” A phrase that the dais will often use to move procedure along A prompt for motions to be made or points to be raised Motions are related to debate - e.g. a motion to open debate Voted upon by the committee (simple majority) in the order that they were presented Can be ruled dilatory by the dais if out of place Only proposed when dais asks Points are related to personal issues E.g.: a “point of personal privilege” must be raised before using the restroom, getting water, etc. Sample list of motions: Sample list of points:

Points and Motions (cont’d) A complete list of points and motions will be provided in the delegate handbook You may raise a point without prompting, but may not propose a motion The dais reserves the right to declare any motion null and void if they are disruptive to the flow of debate (“ruled dilatory” Throughout the presentation, if there is a mention to a motion, they may be raised only when the dais requests for them.

PRIMARY SPEAKERS’ LIST SECONDARY SPEAKERS’ LIST When: beginning of 1st committee session, after roll call Purpose: to decide which topic the committee will debate first Usually involves a few speakers for each topic/against the other topic You can (and should!) pre-write a speech for this section Speaking time: 45s-1m Ends with motion to set agenda - quick vote to choose topic order SECONDARY SPEAKERS’ LIST When: After primary speakers’ list is over Whenever a caucus expires Purpose: to propose ideas about what the committee should focus on in caucuses Speaking time: 45s-1m (can be amended by a vote) The primary speakers’ list is never used after the very beginning of the 1st committee session. Students are encouraged to pre-write a speech supporting one topic over another. At JMUN 2018, we will still be running a primary speakers’ list, even though students will have one designated main topic and one backup topic. We will go through the motions to give delegates, at least from an ROP standpoint, a more accurate sense of what MUN is. The underlined portion is the most important part of this entire slide. Be sure to emphasise to students that the SSL is NOT the time to be ironing out details and

What a speakers’ list looks like Future speakers queued up Speaking Time Note to students that usually, they will have to go up to the podium to speak (as opposed to speaking from their seats) during a speakers’ list. Also, they must request to be on the PSL or SSL many speakers before their turn (usually). Since the SSL cannot be exhausted (more on that later), the dais will frequently ask for willing delegations to “raise their placards” and pre-load delegations onto the speakers’ list.

Other notes about speakers’ lists If the SSL is ever exhausted, the committee will default to voting bloc, and if there are no approved resolutions awaiting a vote, the committee will be out of things to discuss! To be added to the SSL, raise your placard OR send a note up to the dais whenever you want If you have leftover time at the end of a speech on a speakers’ list, you MUST yield your time at the end of your speech “I yield my time to the chair.” “I yield my time to the delegation of Zimbabwe.” The dais will never allow the first bullet point to happen; even if it requires a painful amount of hand-wringing and negotiation to convince these children to join the SSL, our staff will do it :) Do explain to students how the SSL is explicitly not designed for back-and-forth debating - the microphone tends to circulate very deliberately throughout the entire committee before coming back to the same spot, and more likely than not, the same delegation will only speak once, if at all, during one cycle of the SSL before we return back to caucuses.

INFORMAL DEBATE This section is WAY more important than formal debate

Caucuses Where actual solutions and proposals are brought up, discussed, and modified Two types: moderated (mod) and unmoderated (unmod) Periodically, once enough ideas about what to discuss have been floated, the dais will move the committee on to discuss those ideas - in a caucus.

Moderated caucuses (mods) This is the bread and butter of MUN! Motioned for by a delegation when the dais asks for motions 3 parts: speaking time, length, and topic E.g.: “Motion for a 10 minute mod with 45 second speaking times about funding our proposals” You talk about specific policy here while still remaining in a moderated debate No speakers’ list - placards are raised and dais chooses who gets to speak No need to go to podium No need to yield time - mods are classified as “informal debate” Students motion for mods or unmods when the dais asks for “points or motions,” usually after 3-4 speakers from the SSL. Note how the format of mods allows for back-and-forth, as deemed appropriate by the chair.

Tips for Mods: Stay on topic Move debate forwards but stay engaged Take notes about what others are saying to see where there are agreements and where there are disagreements Bullet #2 is important because oftentimes delegations will get hung up on something that someone said three minutes ago and bring it up when the dais finally calls on them - it slows debate down. If it’s critical, they should bring it up, but for healthy debate they should also bear in mind where the rest of the room has moved on to during those three minutes for which they were waiting to be called upon. Bullet #3 is important, because the ideas discussed during mods are, essentially, what go into resolutions (that are drafted during unmods). If they know which delegations stand where on each position that is brought up during mods, delegates can really take initiative and work more efficiently to create a resolution that incorporates as many points of agreement as possible.

Unmoderated caucuses (Unmods) When delegates get together to draft working papers or make deals in an informal manner Motioned for in the same way as mods, but without speaking times and without topics Delegates are free to move around and do whatever they want during unmods Blocs (groups of delegations that agree with each other) and working papers (the predecessors of resolutions) are created during unmods Remind students to stay on-task during unmods.

VOTING BLOC

Motion to Introduce a Working Paper After a working paper (the terminology for a draft of the resolution) is submitted to the dais for rounds of edits (and formatting), a motion to introduce a working paper can be introduced. If approved, the working paper becomes a draft resolution Then, a motion to introduce a draft resolution Q&A is brought up Sponsors of the resolution answer questions proposed by the committee for 3-5 minutes

And then, you vote... There are many ways to vote - usually, voting bloc is opened by a motion and those in favor (and opposing) the resolution raise their placards, in order If you have a ⅔+1 majority, the resolution passes!

Questions? If there are any questions that your students ask that you do not know the answer to, please let us know and we will get back to you ASAP.

How about crisis? You will be in a perpetual moderated caucus This slide is optional - this will be explained very well to delegates when applicable

How should I speak? NO FIRST-PERSON PRONOUNS (except for HCC) “I”, “we”, “me”, “us”, “you”, “mine”, “yours”, “ours”, etc… Refer to yourself as “the delegate/delegation from...” BE COURTEOUS IN YOUR SPEECH In MUN, we have ideological disagreements, not personal ones Since HCC is composed entirely of characters, they speak in a more casual, first-person way.