# Tradition Nine: is A.A. organized? Who runs it?

**In short:**
- Nobody runs A.A. in the sense of governing it. The Long Form of Tradition Nine says each group needs "the least possible organization" and that A.A.'s leaders "derive no real authority from their titles; they do not govern" (p. 565).
- A.A. does have some organization: a group secretary or rotating committee, an intergroup committee in a city, and the trustees and General Service Office in New York. The Long Form describes them all as servants of the groups.
- Bill W. wrote in 1947 that no human authority in A.A. can make a group do anything, and that when he tried to run A.A. himself, it didn't work.

## What the Long Form says (p. 565)

The Ninth Tradition's Long Form walks through A.A.'s structure from the bottom up:

- **The group.** Each group "needs the least possible organization," and rotating leadership is best (p. 565). A small group may elect a secretary; a large one, a rotating committee (p. 565).
- **The city.** The groups of a large metropolitan area may elect a central or intergroup committee, which often employs a full-time secretary (p. 565).
- **New York.** The trustees "are, in effect, our A.A. General Service Committee" (p. 565). They look after the A.A. Tradition, receive the voluntary contributions that pay for the General Service Office, handle overall public relations because the groups have authorized them to, and guarantee the integrity of the Grapevine (p. 565).
- **What all of them are.** Every such representative is to be guided by the spirit of service, "for true leaders in A.A. are but trusted and experienced servants of the whole" (p. 565). They have no real authority from their titles, "they do not govern," and "Universal respect is the key to their usefulness" (p. 565).

Two notes on wording. The Big Book prints "the trustees of the General Service Board"; the 1946 original said "The Alcoholic Foundation," which was renamed in 1954 (P-17, Foreword, 1955, p. 7). And the Long Form doesn't say A.A. "ought never be organized." That phrase is the short form's (p. 562). The Long Form says *the least possible* organization, and then names the organization A.A. has.

## Bill W., "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?" (1947)

**His answer.** "The answer to this question is almost surely" no, and he says experience has settled it (P-17, "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?", 1947, p. 37).

**Why.** Alcoholics could rarely govern themselves, and families, doctors, clergy and judges had failed to govern them by force (P-17, p. 37). But alcoholics can be led and inspired, so the only real authority in A.A. is spiritual principle: "It is never personal authority" (P-17, "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?", 1947, p. 37). He lists what A.A. lacks: no fees, no dues, no rules, no demand that anyone conform, "no one set in personal authority over anyone else" (P-17, "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?", 1947, p. 37).

**Why groups follow the Traditions anyway.** Members follow the Steps by choice, because they prefer recovery to death: "We conform because we want to" (P-17, "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?", 1947, p. 38). Groups follow the Twelve Points of Tradition for the same reason: they see they would fall apart if they didn't (P-17, p. 38).

**No one can compel a group.** There is no constituted "human authority that can compel an A.A. group to do anything" (P-17, "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?", 1947, p. 38). An elected leader can guide by example or persuasion but can never boss, or he is passed over at the next election (P-17, p. 38). Rotating committees "have only the authorization to serve, never to command" (P-17, "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?", 1947, p. 38); each carries out what it thinks its group wants. Committees that tried to discipline members or police their morals achieved nothing lasting, except perhaps getting a new committee elected (P-17, p. 38).

**Bill's own attempt.** He tried to govern A.A. himself, and each time "I have been shouted down" (P-17, "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?", 1947, p. 39). Personal power always failed, and he concluded that in A.A. "one can be a servant only" (P-17, "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?", 1947, p. 39).

**The center is a center of service.** The General Office supplies information and literature, helps new groups when asked, looks after public relations and sometimes mediates (P-17, p. 39). The Grapevine's editors see themselves as a mirror of A.A., unable to rule or propagandize, and the trustees are "caretakers only" (P-17, "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?", 1947, p. 39). Even at the center there are only custodians, editors and secretaries, none with authority to govern A.A. (P-17, p. 39). So long as A.A. avoids piling up wealth or personal government at these centers, he writes, it can't go astray (P-17, pp. 39–40).

## What the text settles

It settles that no person, committee, office or board in A.A. has authority over a group or a member. It doesn't say A.A. has no structure: the Long Form names the structure and explains whom it answers to. For how a group's own decisions are reached, see *Is group conscience a majority vote?* and *Tradition Two: does anyone have authority in A.A.?*

## Read it yourself
- Appendix I, the Long Form of the Traditions (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* ("Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?", pp. 37–40): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/literature/assets/p-17_AATraditions.pdf
- Related: *Tradition Four: can GSO tell a group what to do?* · *What is a group business meeting for?*

## Sources
| Source | Pages | First published |
|---|---|---|
| The Twelve Traditions, Long Form, Tradition Nine (Big Book Appendix I) | 565 | AA Grapevine, 1946; in the Big Book from 1955 |
| The Twelve Traditions, short form | 562 | by 1950 |
| Bill W., "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?" (P-17) | 37–40 | AA Grapevine, 1947 |
| P-17 foreword (1946 wording and the 1954 name change) | 7 | 1955 |

Big Book page numbers are from the fourth edition (2001). P-17 page numbers are the pamphlet's printed numbers (© 2019), which match aa.org's free PDF.

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