The Rules of Procedure
David Li, Undersecretary General for Content
So now you’ve done all of your research and you are ready to debate. You show up to the conference, sit through the opening ceremony in anticipation, and race to your committee room. You take a seat at the table with your placard on it. Now what? Since it’s the first time you are meeting the chair and your fellow delegates, the chair will probably get you to all introduce yourselves, maybe play some icebreaker games. The chair will then explain the rules of procedures again, just in case anyone is confused or wants clarifications. Then, the debate begins.
The first thing that will happen in any committee session, before the actual debate, is a roll call. Roll call is another name for taking attendance. The chairs will call out each country one by one, and if the delegate representing the country is present, they will reply with either “Present!” or “Present and Voting!” There is technically a difference between the two, but for all intents and purposes, the two are exactly the same, replying with either is fine.
Then, if you were given two topics to research, you will next move into ‘Setting the Agenda.’ Basically, voting on which of the two topics to debate first. In theory, you might debate both topics, so you are only voting on the order to debate them in. However, often there is only enough time to debate one topic, so you might not get a chance to debate the other topic that isn’t being debated first. Generally, in OxfordMUN, you should only expect to debate one of the two topics. Delegates can argue for which topic to debate first, and after a few speakers from each side, all the delegates will vote on what to debate first. Of course, if you only had one topic, then there is no need to discuss, and you can move straight into the actual debate.
After setting the agenda (or skipping the step if you only had one topic) the next step is what is called either ‘Opening Statements’ or ‘Primary Speakers List.’ Here, all countries who want to can deliver a single speech, either 60 seconds or 90 seconds, depending on what rules of procedure the committee follows, outlining their country’s initial position. This can simply be presenting the material that you have written about in your position paper already. A “Here’s who this delegate is, what this delegate believes in, and what this delegate wants to do” speech. Keep in mind, you should always be speaking from the perspective of the country that you are representing, not from your own perspective. And so you might have to argue or fight for positions that as a person, you do not believe in. As each delegate can only speak about their initial position, each delegate may only speak once in the Primary Speakers List.
Usually, within the first hour, everyone who wants to speak on the Primary Speakers List will have spoken. After all opening statements have been delivered (otherwise referred to as ‘after the primary speakers list has been exhausted’), the debate will then move on to the ‘General Speakers List (GSL),’ also called “Secondary Speakers List (SSL).” During this phase, any delegate can speak about any topic they wish, as long as it is relevant to the debate, and they can speak as many times as they wish. The SSL will last for the rest of the entire debate.
The secondary speakers list, however, will be frequently interrupted by either moderated caucuses, or unmoderated caucuses. When the delegates wish to, the debate can move into either what is called a moderated caucus or what is called an unmoderated caucus.
A moderated caucus is a orderly debate, where the entire committee speaks about a specific topic (the topic of the moderated caucus) for a specified amount of time, voted on by the committee. The amount of time that each individual speaker has can also be specified. Generally it’s either 60 or 90 seconds, but if the whole committee wants to see a single delegate give a 20 minute speech, that is possible too. An example of a moderated caucus might be the following. “A 20 minute moderated caucus on the topic of ‘Whether adaptation is more important than mitigation in the face of climate change,’ each speaker gets 60 seconds to speak.” Here, the topic of mitigation vs adaptation might be a specific topic within the broad topic of ‘Dealing with Climate Change.’ Moderated caucuses can be used to direct the flow of debate, and specify the focus of debate for a specified amount of time.
An unmoderated caucus (often shortened to unmod) on the other hand, does the exact opposite. In the Secondary Speakers List, while the topic isn’t specified, the debate is still very regulated in every other aspect. Delegates may not talk amongst themselves, they may not leave their seats, and they may not do anything that might be distracting. In an unmoderated caucus, however, all of these rules are gone. Delegates can and should get up from their seats and discuss differences amongst themselves. Use this time to write resolution papers (this will be explained in the next blog post), form blocs, and negotiate. Basically, the unmod is a time for the delegates to actually have back and forward conversations, negotiate, compromise, make under the table deals, and do everything that they cannot do in normal speeches.
If you’re a bit confused, basically think of it this way. The Secondary Speakers List is the default state of debate. Here, the debate is monitored and orderly, but delegates can talk about any topic that they want, as long as it is relevant to the discussion. When the committee wants to focus on a specific topic to debate on, they then move on to the moderated caucus. This is basically like the SSL, except the topic gets specified. Alternatively, if delegates have had enough of speeches, or need some time to have conversations to work out differences that can’t be resolved in speeches, they can move on to an unmoderated caucus, where the rules of debate are lifted and delegates can negotiate amongst themselves. Both moderated and unmoderated caucuses have time limits. After the time runs out, the delegates will move back into the Secondary Speakers List, where they again face the decision of staying in the general speakers list, or moving to either an unmoderated or a moderated caucus.
After two days of moderated caucuses, unmoderated caucuses, and Secondary Speakers Lists, the delegates then move onto the resolution paper voting. This will be the content of the next blog post, so I will not go into depth about it here. And after a resolution paper is voted on and passed, the conference would be over.
If you have read all the way up to here, congratulations! You have just sorted through every type of debate that you will encounter in a MUN conference. Not so difficult, right? If you still have any questions or concerns, hopefully the next few blog posts will clear them up.