The League of Women Voters takes action on an issue or advocates for a cause when there is an existing League Position that supports the issue or speaks to the cause. A Positions can be established at any level - National, State, Regional, or Local, - as long as it does not conflict with a Position at a higher level.
At any level, Positions come out of a process of study.
- A study is athorough pursuit of facts and details about an issue, generally done by a study committee. As the study progresses, the committee member continually discuss pros and cons of each situation they find.
- 'Consensus Questions' are created by the members of the study committee as they prepare to present the results of their study to the general membership. These questions help facilitate the broader discussion.
- League members who were not part of the study committee learn the the study committee results. Additional discussion, pro and con, takes place - aided by the consensus questions. The intent is to reach a consensus agreement.
- The consensus agreement goes to the League Board of Directors at whichever level the study was done. The Board at that level forms a consensus statement based on that agreement.
- A Position is the public issuance of the consensus statement. Based on that Position, firm action or advocacy can be taken on that issue.
Without a studied consensus Position, Action and Advocacy cannot be taken.