Warranty 06

that though the Conference may act for the service of Alcoholics Anonymous, it shall never perform any acts of government; and that, like the Society of Alcoholics Anonymous which it serves, the Conference itself will always remain democratic in action and spirit

1. Primary principle(s): democracy, unity
2. Other principles: acceptance, consideration, courage, faith, humility, peace, responsibility, selflessness, surrender, tolerance, understanding, willingness, egalitarianism

Readings:

• Twelve Concepts for World Service - pp. 74-75
• “Keep Service Simple” - January 2001 AA Grapevine
• “Less Is More” - May 2003 AA Grapevine
• “The Incredible Tapestry” - February 1993 AA Grapevine

AA is not designed as a democracy as most of us think of it: the government model is not “federal” or “true democracy” as we know it from our experience with the US government or other modern democracies around the world.

Truth is, many of the practices that we claim as unique to AA (e.g. minority appeal, decision by substantial unanimity) were borrowed heavily from the Vermont town meeting style of democracy which Bill was probably at least aware of [citation 1, 2].

Also, in his essay on Concept 6 and other places, Bill rather likens the AA government model to the modern corporation with the Groups as shareholders, the delegates as proxy holders at an annual meeting, and the Boards as the corporate boards. In fact, this is pretty much the “legal” definition of our organization.

Yet, many who have served on the board or observed our organization in action, say: “…AA is not like any other organization…”