# Tradition Four: can GSO tell a group what to do?

**In short:**
- Not about the group's own affairs. The Long Form says that in its own affairs each group "should be responsible to no other authority than its own conscience" (p. 563).
- The Long Form does set limits on the group, though. If its plans affect neighbouring groups, it should consult them. And no group, committee or individual should take an action that might greatly affect A.A. as a whole "without conferring with the trustees of the General Service Board" (p. 563).
- Conferring isn't obeying. Bill W. wrote in 1947 that there is no human authority in A.A. that "can compel an A.A. group to do anything" (P-17, "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?", 1947). The New York office gives information and advice; a group is free to take it or leave it, and free to be wrong.

## What the Long Form says

Tradition Four in its original form has three parts (p. 563):
1. **Its own affairs.** "With respect to its own affairs, each A.A. group should be responsible to no other authority than its own conscience." (p. 563).
2. **Its neighbours.** When a group's plans concern the welfare of neighbouring groups, "those groups ought to be consulted" (p. 563).
3. **A.A. as a whole.** No group, regional committee or individual should take any action that might greatly affect A.A. as a whole without conferring with the trustees. "On such issues our common welfare is paramount." (p. 563).

The short form shrinks this to "Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole" (p. 562). The Long Form makes clear what "except" asks for: consulting and conferring.

A note on names. In 1946 the text said "the trustees of The Alcoholic Foundation" (P-17, Foreword, 1955). The Foundation was renamed the General Service Board in 1954, and "the Foundation office is now the General Service Office" (P-17, Foreword, 1955). So "GSO" is the office the trustees oversee. The Big Book's printing of the Long Form uses the new name (p. 563).

## What the office can and can't do (1946–47)

Bill W.'s essays describe the office as a service, not a government.

In "Money" (1946) he wrote of the clubs, local offices and the General Office: "These are places of service" (P-17, "Money", 1946). They can't control A.A., and if one became inefficient or overbearing, members would stop sending money until things changed. Because no one is compelled to support them, "they can never dictate" (P-17, "Money", 1946).

In "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?" (1947) he listed what the General Office does: supply information and literature, report how most members feel about current problems, look after A.A.'s overall public relations, sometimes mediate, and help new groups start, "giving advice if asked" (P-17, "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?", 1947). The trustees are custodians, "caretakers only" (P-17, "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?", 1947). And there is no human authority in A.A. that "can compel an A.A. group to do anything" (P-17, "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?", 1947).

## The right to be wrong (1957)

In *A.A. Comes of Age* Bill tells how he first thought he could manage A.A. from New York, and how the groups told him otherwise: "Services, yes. But government, no." (*A.A. Comes of Age*, 1957). He says the groups' autonomy "included the right to be wrong" (*A.A. Comes of Age*, 1957).

His example: a promoter in one town sold his group on a building with a club, a clinic and a loan office, three corporations and sixty-one rules. Dissenters wrote to New York. The office replied that each group could manage its affairs as it liked if it didn't harm other groups, and warned as strongly as it dared that such schemes had failed elsewhere. The group ignored the warning, as it had a right to. The scheme collapsed. Afterwards the promoter mailed every group a card, "Rule No. 62": "Don't take yourself too damned seriously." (*A.A. Comes of Age*, 1957).

That story shows Tradition Four working both ways. New York gave its experience; the group decided; the group lived with the result.

## What the Tradition doesn't say

It doesn't say a group may do anything at all. Its own conscience is the authority over its own affairs, but the Long Form asks it to think of other groups and of A.A. as a whole, and the other Traditions still apply to it: no outside affiliation (p. 563), no business, no endorsements (p. 564).

It also doesn't make the trustees or GSO a court that rules on what a group does. The Long Form asks groups to confer with the trustees on A.A.-wide matters; it gives the trustees no power to command, and the 1946–47 essays say plainly they have none.

## Read it yourself
- Appendix I, "The A.A. Tradition" (pp. 561–566), free from A.A.: https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_appendicei.pdf
- P-17, *A.A. Tradition — How It Developed*: https://www.aa.org/aa-tradition-how-it-developed
- *Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age* is sold by A.A. World Services at https://onlineliterature.aa.org
- Related: *Tradition Two: does anyone have authority in A.A.?*

## Sources
| Source | Pages | First published |
|---|---|---|
| *Alcoholics Anonymous*, Appendix I, Tradition Four (short and Long Form); Long Form Three and Six | 562–564 | 1946 |
| P-17, Foreword (original Point Four and its 1954 footnote) | — | dated 1955; Points 1946 |
| P-17, "Money" | — | 1946 |
| P-17, "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?" | — | 1947 |
| *A.A. Comes of Age*, "Unity" (Tradition Four) | — | 1957 |

Big Book page numbers are from the fourth edition (2001). Our copy of *A.A. Comes of Age* has no printed page numbers, so it's cited by book and year.

*Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. Quotations are brief and cited; the Big Book and* A.A. Comes of Age *are © A.A. World Services, Inc.; the P-17 articles are © AA Grapevine, Inc.*