Constitution

Constitution of the ECPR SGOC

General Theme

Organised crime manifests in many forms and stretches across four continents: Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. It has a disruptive effect on the functioning of democratic institutions, distorts the free market economy and compromises the very fabric of the civil society at large. The Standing Group seeks to promote debates on the general theme of organised crime and its manifestations, particularly its relations with the international system, governance, society, and the economy.

Mission and Vision

The nature of organised crime implies that research should be multidisciplinary, although it rarely is. The standing group on organised crime fosters communication, exchanges and common projects between different disciplines, nationalities and professional sectors. The group seeks to act as a catalyst for new research and international contacts and a forum for dialogue, exchanges and news. Organised crime must be met with sustainable and mutual learning between academics and practitioners.

Aims of the Standing Group

We believe that due to important developments in the area of organised crime and an abundance of new material, there is a clear need for an active and dynamic ECPR standing group dedicated to the study of organised crime which acts as the central focus for European, American and other researchers, as well as provide an umbrella for common activities and projects across disciplines.

The standing group seeks to facilitate the development of theoretical approaches, as well as in-depth studies of empirical examples, in order to create fruitful exchanges between disciplines with a regular flow of information on projects. This ECPR standing group seeks to help researchers meet on a regular basis and promotes an active publication agenda.

Strategic Goals

Our strategic goals are organised into three tangible categories: Impact & Visibility, Research and Learning. We hope to realize the mission, vision and aims of the standing group by achieving the majority of goals listed

The group seeks to be as inclusive as possible. All are welcome to join, through on-line registration and participate as they wish. There is no membership fee. Although the structure of the SG seeks to be as democratic and open as possible, some organizational roles and bodies have been established as follows below:

Goal 1: Impact & Visibility

1. To promote the study of organised crime across disciplines.
2. To foster mutual learning between scholars and practitioners.
3. To facilitate electronic and other forms of communication.
4. To provide formal information with a bi-annual newsletter and a research directory (e-directory).
5. To have a website, blog and social medial platforms, that share information in real time.
6. To establish a permanent Recruitment Information Campaign and strengthen the research directory (e-directory).

Goal 2: Research

1. To initiate new research agendas according to the interests of the standing group members, as well as bring researchers together.
2. To set up an online research archive where papers, chapters and articles can be stored.
3. To set up an open line Journal ‘ECPR Research Series on Organised crime’.
4. To maintain a searchable archive with articles from our newsletters.

Goal 3: Learning

1. To develop and facilitate interdisciplinary cooperation and research among members.
2. To contribute to the activities of the ECPR: to organise conferences and seminars on various aspects of organised crime and workshops at the ECPR annual Joint Sessions and ECPR annual Research Sessions.
3. To promote knowledge exchange with the wider public on topics related to organised crime.

Structure of Standing Group

The group seeks to be as inclusive as possible. All are welcome to join, through on-line registration and participate as they wish. There is no membership fee. Although the structure of the SG seeks to be as democratic and open as possible, some organizational roles and bodies have been established as follows:

Convenor and Co-convenor:

The role of the convenor and co-convenor is to manage and provide leadership to the group.

Steering/executive committee:

The Steering committee is the organisational arm of the SG (from the executive committee the following roles are distributed:

• Social Network officer,
• Funding officer,
• Events & Publication officer,
• Strategic Communication officer,
• Newsletter Editors)

International consultants:             

Non-academic external advisors to the group.

Members from ECPR-member institutions:                  

Individuals who have asked to become members and who have signed up to the e-directory, mailing list and seek to attend meetings and ECPR conferences.

Other Members:   

Individuals affiliated to non-member institutions. They need to apply to the Steering Committee in order to be admitted. Admission will be decided on the basis of the curriculum of the applicant.

Rules and Procedures

Convenor, Co-convenor and the executive committee will stay in charge for a period of 3 years one time renewable.

Election will be organised and take place during ECPR general conferences.

The majority of the Steering Committee must be affiliated to ECPR (full or associated) member institutions, including the Convenor who serves as main liaison with the ECPR.

All members who will attend the General Conference will have the right to vote.

Each attending members can have a maximum of 2 delegations.