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What ’ s the point of a constitution ?
Believe it or not , a constitution isn ’ t just for making an organization look fancy ( though that is a nice benefit ). Rather , a constitution sets the foundational rules and principles of an organization .
Consider the following questions :
“ Can I run for office ?”
“ How can people join the NJCL ?”
“ What ’ s the NJCL supposed to do ?”
“ Who leads the NJCL ?”
“ What counts as a JCL chapter ?”
“ How do elections work ?”
The NJCL Constitution and Bylaws contain answers to these questions and more . They also have procedures in place to amend these answers , but we ’ ll discuss that in a later issue of the Constitutional Column .
There are other important governing documents , such as the National Committee Manual and the Executive Handbook , but the Constitutional Column solely focuses on the Constitution and Bylaws .
Constitution vs . Bylaws
When something mentions the NJCL ’ s fundamental documents , you ’ ll typically see them referred to as the Constitution and Bylaws . While these can be found in the same PDF , they are in fact two separate things .
The Constitution handles the most important , fundamental parts of the NJCL . Here , you ’ ll see not just the name and overall purpose of the organization but also important parts of its function like membership requirements , election structure , and executive board composition .
The Bylaws cover more specific details of the NJCL ’ s operations , such as the membership fees and the duties of officers . The most important thing is that they can be amended more easily than the Constitution . Anything that should be easier to change in the future goes here .
Your JCL doesn ’ t have to do this — some have just one document — but doing so lets you designate which rules should be easier to change .