In a crisis setting, the way that a committee acts as one unit and makes a unilateral decision is through directives. Directives come in the two forms which are described below.
Committee Directive
Committee Directives are how the committee takes unilateral action against the crisis at hand. Committee Directives are written as succinct actions and should answer the questions “Who?” “What?” “When?” “Where?” and “Why?”. They are passed by the whole committee through a simple majority (½ of committee plus one). In order to be submitted to the Chair, at least 1/3 of the committee members present must sign on as signatories or as a designated sponsor. Designated sponsors are often described as members of the committee who directly contributed language or significant ideas to the Directive. When a Committee Directive has enough signatories, it should be given to the Chair.
Example of a Committee Directive
Committee: Bill Clinton’s Advisory Cabinet on Afghanistan
Directive: IPC
Sponsors: DoD, DoJ, CIA
Signatories: FBI, NSA, VP, Speaker of the House
Directive: IPC
Sponsors: DoD, DoJ, CIA
Signatories: FBI, NSA, VP, Speaker of the House
- In response to the actions of the Taliban insurgency the United States of America has decided to implement the following policies:
- Investigate - The CIA will, by the end of September, send their highly trained operatives into the mountains of Afghanistan in order to infiltrate the Taliban and identify high-value targets.
- This venture will be funded via the budget granted to the CIA by the department of defense, especially for overseas operations.
- Pursue- Once these high-value targets have been identified, the Department of Defense will send in army special forces to recover these targets for interrogation.
- Deadly force should only be used when absolutely necessary
- This project will be funded through the Army’s budget designated towards middle eastern operations.
- Convert- Through conventional methods, a joint task force between the DoD, DoJ, CIA, FBI, and, NSA will gather and analyze information from captured targets in order to gain insight into Talabani plans.
- Investigate - The CIA will, by the end of September, send their highly trained operatives into the mountains of Afghanistan in order to infiltrate the Taliban and identify high-value targets.
Example: Press Release: Innocent Until Proven Guilty
This committee acknowledges the accusations of the group “Mother’s against ISIS” and would like to reassure our constituents that all of their claims bear no truth. These accusations are not founded in evidence, and our legal team is on alert and ready to pursue libel litigation against this group.
Cordially,
Shawn Spicer
Press Secretary
Cordially,
Shawn Spicer
Press Secretary
Press Releases
Press Releases are statements issued by the committee to the public or other entities. In some committees, individuals in charge of the press or other public relations entities may be able to issue these on behalf of the committee without the committee’s approval. However, sometimes directors will decide against allowing this. Committee-wide Press Releases require the same amount of signatures as a Committee Directive and are given to the Chair.