THE CONSTITUTION OF THE HUME SOCIETY

as amended 2001

 

I. The purpose of the Hume Society is to stimulate scholarship on the philosophy and writings of David Hume and to afford an opportunity for the exchange of research.

 

II. A member of the Hume Society shall be a person who has paid dues for the current year or a person who has been a member in good standing of the Hume Society during the two years prior to the current year and who has not resigned his or her membership in the Society.

 

III. The governing body of the Hume Society shall be an Executive Committee.

 

a. The Executive Committee shall consist of ten members of the Hume Society. Eight Regular Members of the Executive Committee, and the President of the Society, shall be elected to staggered three-year terms, forming three cohorts of three persons. The Secretary-Treasurer shall serve ex officio on the Executive Committee.

 

b. No member shall hold more than one office (Regular Member of the Executive Committee, President, Secretary-Treasurer) at a time and no member shall serve as an elected member of the Executive Committee (Regular Member and/or President) for more than nine years consecutively. Moreover, no member shall be eligible to serve more than two consecutive terms in the same elected office (Regular Member or President). A person who has served as Secretary-Treasurer for six consecutive years or more may not, upon retirement from that office, be elected to the Executive Committee (as Regular Member or President) until one full year has elapsed.

 

c. The Executive Committee shall elect a Secretary-Treasurer who will serve in that capacity for a once-renewable term of five years or until a successor is appointed.

 

d. The Executive Committee shall be empowered to replace any elected member of the Committee (Regular Member or President) who resigns from the Committee (or becomes otherwise unable to serve) prior to the expiration of his or her current term of office. Such an appointment will be effective for the remainder of the term of office of the person replaced, and the appointee will be eligible thereafter for election to two consecutive terms in the same office, provided that this does not violate the nine-year rule as stated in III b.

 

e. Terms of office shall begin on January 1 and end on December 31.

 

f. Business of the Executive Committee may be conducted when a meeting, duly called, is attended by a majority of its members. Business may also be conducted via electronic media, provided that all members of the Committee are included in the communication loop.

 

IV. There shall be an annual election of at least three persons to serve on the Executive Committee of the Society.

 

a. In September of each year the Secretary-Treasurer will circulate to all members of the Society a Call for Nominations to the Executive Committee, allowing at least thirty days for members to return nominations by post or via electronic media. Any member nominated by at least two other members, and who, when asked by the Secretary-Treasurer, agrees to serve if elected, shall be considered duly nominated.

 

b. Every third year the Secretary-Treasurer shall include with the Call for Nominations to the Executive Committee a Call for Nominations for President of the Society; any member nominated by at least two other members, and who, when asked by the Secretary-Treasurer, agrees to serve, if elected, shall be duly nominated for the position of President.

 

c. In November of each year an election of members to the Executive Committee shall be conducted; two to three Regular Members shall be elected, depending upon whether a President is to be elected in the given year. A President shall be elected every third year as part of the Executive Committee elections. No one may stand for election both to the Presidency and to Regular Membership in the Executive Committee in the same election. The names of the nominees in each category will appear on the ballot in alphabetical order, followed by academic affiliation or equivalent information.

 

d. The ballots shall be collected and counted by the Secretary-Treasurer, except in a year when he or she is a nominee; in such a year, the counting will be conducted by the most recent former President of the Society who is not also a nominee. The duly nominated person receiving the largest number of votes for each vacant position shall be declared elected.

 

V. The Executive Committee shall create such special committees it deems appropriate, specifying for each: its charge, membership, and duration.

 

a. For each meeting of the Society there shall be an Organizing Committee, appointed by the Executive Committee, consisting of a local Co-Director, a Program Director and at least one other person, all of whom shall be members of the Society. The Program Director shall be a member, or former member, of the Executive Committee.

 

b. The Organizing Committee, under the direction of the Program Director, shall have the responsibility of reviewing papers submitted in response to a Call for Papers and for identifying persons to be invited to speak at the meeting of the Society.

 

c. The decisions of the Program Committee shall be made by the majority of its members.

 

d. In accordance with the Society's commitment to the principle of the blind reviewing of submitted papers, the Call for Papers shall specify that submissions are to be sent to the Secretary-Treasurer.

 

VI. The Hume Society will hold regular and special meetings.

 

a. Regular meetings of the Society shall be scheduled once in each calendar year.

 

b. The Executive Committee shall select the dates and sites for its meetings and shall announce them to the membership. The selection of the site of a meeting will ordinarily be announced at least two years in advance of the date of the meeting.

 

c. Special meetings, either independent or jointly sponsored with another Society, may be authorized by the Executive Committee.

 

d. Time shall be set aside during each regular meeting of the Hume Society for a Business Meeting. The quorum for such a meeting is twenty members of the Society. At this meeting the President and the Secretary-Treasurer shall give reports on behalf of the Executive Committee, and the Editor(s) of Hume Studies shall at that time also present an annual report.

 

e. Any business of the Society may be conducted at the Business Meeting which is not in these By-Laws specifically reserved to the members or to the Executive Committee. Any motions adopted at a Business Meeting may be, at the discretion of the Executive Committee, put to the membership for ratification; such ratification shall be conducted by post or electronic communication.

 

VII. The amount of annual dues shall be determined by the members of the Society.

 

VIII. Hume Studies shall be the journal of the Society.

 

a. Hume Studies shall serve the purposes of the Society and shall reflect the full range of interests of its members in all aspects of the thought of David Hume.

 

b. The Editor(s) of Hume Studies shall be elected by the Executive Committee to a renewable five-year term, one year prior to the expiration of the current Editor's term.

 

c. The Editor(s) shall be responsible for ensuring that Hume Studies meets the highest standards of scholarship and for promoting its reputation within the academic community.

 

d. The Editor shall supervise all matters regarding the management of Hume Studies, soliciting manuscripts, making final judgments about what papers appear in the journal, appointing employees, arranging for printing and mailing, having all the powers and obligations that generally attach to the position of editor.

 

e. The operation of Hume Studies shall be supported by the home institution(s) of the Editor(s). The Society shall remit part of the dues of the Society's members to Hume Studies, and the Editor(s) shall ensure that members receive subscriptions to the journal. The precise financial arrangements shall be settled before editor(s) are elected, but the Society shall provide no compensation for the Editor(s).

 

f. The Editor(s) and the Executive Committee shall agree upon appointments for an Editorial Board of no more than 11 and no fewer than 7 persons, divided into three approximately equal cohorts. The members of the Board shall be appointed by the Executive Committee to staggered six-year terms; a member of the Board may be re-appointed for one additional six-year term. Neither an Editor nor any member of the Board may at the same time be a member of the Executive Committee. Members of the Editorial Board shall, when called upon, help the Editor in performing the obligations of that position. The Editorial Board shall ensure that the journal serves the needs of scholarship and the Society. It shall advise the Executive Committee in its assessment of candidates for Editor and shall advise the Editor and the Executive Committee on any other matter regarding the well-being of the journal.

 

g. An Editor may be removed in mid-term only by a vote of two-thirds of the Executive Committee.

 

h. The Editor(s) shall prepare an annual report for the Executive Committee and the Editorial Board detailing the financial situation of Hume Studies, any changes in editorial principles, and any other matters that the Executive Committee or Editorial Board need to address. This report shall be presented at the annual business meeting.

 

IX. The Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds majority of those voting, provided that the amendment has been submitted in writing to the membership at least one month prior to the date of the vote.

 

X. Robert's Rules of Order shall govern the meetings of the Hume Society and of its Executive Committee unless changes in the procedure are approved by a two-third's majority of those present.