Talk to Recovery EinsteinYou're not alone — day or night
Home › A.A. questions, from the books › The Concepts and service

What is the Right of Appeal, and why does the minority matter?

In short:

  • The Right of Appeal is Bill W.'s Fifth Concept (1962): throughout A.A.'s world service structure, "minority opinion will be heard and personal grievances receive careful consideration" (p. 574).
  • It has two parts. A minority that thinks the majority is badly wrong is encouraged to file a minority report, and on a grave issue has a duty to take it to the General Service Conference. And anyone working in the structure, paid or unpaid, may petition the General Service Board over a personal grievance "without prejudice or fear of reprisal" (Twelve Concepts for World Service, Concept V).
  • Why: minorities are often right, and even when they're wrong they force a real debate. "The well-heard minority, therefore, is our chief protection against an uninformed, misinformed, hasty or angry majority" (Twelve Concepts for World Service, Concept V).
  • A related idea is older than the Concepts. In 1946, writing about who should pay for clubs, Bill said that "the majority ought not to try to coerce the minority" (P-17, Money, 1946).

Earlier texts (1946–47)

The Long Form of the Traditions protects the individual first: A.A. "may refuse none who wish to recover," and membership should never depend "upon money or conformity" (p. 563).

Bill's 1946 essay on money applies it to a disagreement. Most members liked clubs, but not all, so club support should come from those who wanted them: "But the majority ought not to try to coerce the minority into supporting clubs they do not want or need" (P-17, Money, 1946).

His 1947 essay on government lists among A.A.'s freedoms "no one set in personal authority over anyone else" (P-17, Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?, 1947).

The 1955 Conference Charter built minority protection into elections: delegates are chosen "by a two-thirds written ballot or by lot" (The A.A. Service Manual, 2024–2026, Appendix K, Original Conference Charter, 1955).

What Concept V says (1962)

Appeal. All minorities, "whether in our staffs, committees, corporate boards or among the Trustees," should be encouraged to file minority reports when they think the majority is in considerable error (Twelve Concepts for World Service, Concept V). Where a wrong decision could seriously affect A.A. as a whole, the minority should treat presenting a report to the Conference as an actual duty.

Why minorities matter. "In granting this traditional ‘Right of Appeal,’ we recognize that minorities frequently can be right" (Twelve Concepts for World Service, Concept V). Even when partly or wholly wrong, they compel a thorough debate.

Petition. Any person in the structure may carry a personal grievance directly to the General Service Board. Bill expected it to be used seldom, but "its very existence will always tend to restrain those in authority from unjust uses of their power" (Twelve Concepts for World Service, Concept V).

Where it comes from. Bill ties it to A.A.'s membership freedoms: "any alcoholic is a member of A.A. the moment he says so; we cannot take away his right to belong" (Twelve Concepts for World Service, Concept V). "Neither can we force our members to believe anything or pay anything" (Twelve Concepts for World Service, Concept V).

How it already worked in 1962. - Electing delegates. Unless a candidate gets two-thirds of the assembly, his name goes in a hat with the minority's choices, and the delegate is drawn by lot. Bill admits this sometimes sets aside the simple-majority rule, and says it has strengthened the spirit of democracy: no discontented minority trails behind the winner. - The Conference's own habit. "Unless it has been absolutely unavoidable, the Conference has usually refused to take important decisions on anything less than a two-thirds vote" (Twelve Concepts for World Service, Concept V). - The trustees' check. Under the Charter, a Conference vote binds the trustees only at two-thirds of a quorum, so a narrow majority can't force them; they can insist on more debate.

Bill closes with Alexis de Tocqueville's warning against the "tyranny" of apathetic, self-seeking, uninformed or angry majorities, and adds the opposite danger: "the even worse tyranny of very small minorities invested with absolute power" (Twelve Concepts for World Service, Concept V).

The limit: a minority can't block everything

Concept XII's Fourth Warranty asks for decisions by "substantial unanimity" whenever possible, but sets a limit. In a real emergency, or when "a small minority obstinately tries to use the principle of substantial unanimity to block a clearly needed action," Bill writes, "it would be the plain duty of the majority to override such a misuse of the principle of substantial unanimity" (Twelve Concepts for World Service, Concept XII). The Right of Appeal guarantees a hearing, not a veto.

How it's done now (later sources, dated)

  • P-8 (first printed 1986; © 2017) describes the current Conference: after a vote reaches substantial unanimity, "those opposed are polled individually to see if they wish to speak further to their minority view" (P-8), and the Conference has sometimes reversed itself.
  • The 2024–2026 Service Manual: "After each vote on a matter of policy, the side that did not prevail will always be given an opportunity to speak to their position" (The A.A. Service Manual, 2024–2026, Chapter 6).
  • In 1962 Bill hoped A.A. would "one day inscribe these traditional Rights" (Twelve Concepts for World Service, Concept V) in the Conference Charter. The current Charter now says the Conference recognizes "the Rights of Petition and Appeal reflected in Concepts IV and V" (The A.A. Service Manual, 2024–2026, Appendix K, Current Conference Charter) and may hear Concept V appeals from members below the Conference level. Our copy doesn't say when this was added.

What the text doesn't settle

Concept V was written for the world service structure: staffs, committees, boards, trustees, the Conference. It doesn't set out a procedure for a member who disagrees with a home group's decision. Bill's introduction says these principles "can of course be used to good effect throughout our entire structure" (Twelve Concepts for World Service, Introduction), and P-8 says the same principle should apply to area committees and boards, but neither lays down rules for a group.

Read it yourself

Sources

Source Where Written / first published
Alcoholics Anonymous, Appendix I, Long Form Three p. 563 1946
P-17, Money; Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government? (Bill W.) — Grapevine, 1946 and 1947
Conference Charter, original text The A.A. Service Manual, 2024–2026, Appendix K 1955
Alcoholics Anonymous, Appendix VII, Concept V (short form) p. 574 Concepts 1962; short form 1971
Twelve Concepts for World Service (Bill W.), Introduction, Concepts V and XII in The A.A. Service Manual, 2024–2026 edition 1962
P-8, The Twelve Concepts for World Service Illustrated — first printed 1986; © 2017
The A.A. Service Manual, Chapter 6; current Conference Charter — 2024–2026 edition

Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. Quotations are brief and cited; the Big Book, the Service Manual and Twelve Concepts for World Service, and P-8 are © A.A. World Services, Inc.; the P-17 articles are © AA Grapevine, Inc.

These pages answer questions about A.A. from A.A.'s own published literature, read in full, with every quote checked word for word against the page it cites. Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. What we read, and when each source was written.