Issue Positions

Positions adopted by the League of Women Voters of Mississippi after deliberative study and reaching a consensus

How Positions are Developed.  Our State Positions.

How Positions are Developed

The League of Women Voters of Mississippi takes positions on issues when there is an existing U.S. League position that supports the issue or when the state has reached a consensus on the issue after deliberative study.

All positions result from a process of study. Any given study, whether it be National, State, or Local, is thorough in its pursuit of facts and details. First, a study committee is formed with a director to undertake an issue study. The study committee gathers all possible information on the issue and discusses pros and cons of all possible responses to the issue. The study committee fashions consensus questions that are to be addressed by the membership.

The consensus questions along with information gathered by the study committee are presented to the general membership of the League. The general membership then engages in additional discussion, pro and con, as they learn about the scope of the study. The general membership will then reach consensus on the issue using the questions and information provided by the study committee. From the consensus statements reached by the general membership, the board then forms a position statement. It is the consensus statement -- the statement resulting from the consensus questions -- that becomes a position upon which action or advocacy can then be taken.

No action or advocacy can be taken in the name of the League for which a position statement has not been developed.

Our State Positions

Whatever the issues, the League of Women Voters believes that government policy, programs and performance must meet these criteria:

• Competent personnel with clear responsibilities
• Coordination among agencies and levels of government
• Adequate funding
• Effective enforcement, and
• Well-defined channels for citizen input and review.

REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT

• Open Meetings
• Open Records
• Ethics
• Campaign Financing
• Voting Rights
• Term Limits
• Reapportionment
• State Constitution
• State Finance
• State Legislature

SOCIAL POLICY

• Charter Schools
• Child abuse
• Childcare
• Criminal Justice
• Dependent and/or Disabled Adults
• Early Childhood Education
• Education
• Health Care
• Housing
• Tax Policy
• Teenage Pregnancy

NATURAL RESOURCES

• Energy Deregulation
• Land Use: Planning
• Land Use: Wild and Scenic Rivers
• Solid, Hazardous, and Nuclear Waste

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: April 25, 2008 23:34 PDT.

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