Yale Political Union
The
Yale Political Union (
YPU), a debate society that is the largest student organization at
Yale University, founded in
1934 by Professor
Alfred Whitney Griswold (
1906–
1963), who would later become University President, to combat the apathy that characterized Yale's political culture in the 1930s. It was modelled on the
Cambridge University and
Oxford University Unions, and members of the YPU have reciprocal rights at its sister societies in England. The Union has at times been the central forum for political discussion and activism at Yale. Its officers over the years have included Senator
John Kerry, Senator
David Boren, Attorney General
Edwin Meese, Governor
George Pataki, and
William F. Buckley.
The YPU is a non-partisan debate society. A speaker moderates weekly debates according to
Robert's Rules of Order. The Union's highest ranking officer is the
President, elected for a term of one semester, who oversees the YPU's day to day affairs and provides leadership in setting the tone of any given semester. The office of President was split into the offices of President and Speaker in late 1961.
A prominent figure (e.g., politician, journalist, etc.) is often invited to keynote a Yale Political Union debate. Students then have the opportunity to ask questions of the guest, and then give speeches of their own, either in support or opposition to the resolution. This ability to allow students to interact with relevant political figures is often considered one of the great strengths of the organization.
The Union is an umbrella organization that currently contains six Parties: the Liberal Party (Lib), the Progressive Party (Prog), the Independent Party (IP), the Conservative Party (CP), the Tory Party (Tory), and the Party of the Right (PoR). These parties are actually independent debating societies that host their own debates and activities apart from Union activities, though members will come together for weekly Union debates. The Parties are traditionally listed in the order given above, from Left to Right.
In the past the Political Union has had other parties including a Bull Moose Party, a Constitutional Union Party, a Labor Party, and a Party of the Left, but not all at the same time. Six parties is an all time high for the total number of parties. Two is the all time low. Four has been fairly typical. All of the parties contribute in their own unique way to the Union's character. There is currently a movement within the Union to create a new Party of the Left; the Party has actually already formed as an independent organization, but has not yet petitioned for recognition by the Union. Should it receive recognition in the Fall, the resulting seven-Party Union will be the largest in terms of number of Parties that the Union has ever been.
Though party size and membership varies greatly over the decades, currently the Independent Party is the largest Party in the Union, maintaining more than a third of the voting membership of the Union in recent semesters. The Liberal Party and the Party of the Right are the next largest, each being about half the size of the Independent Party. The other three Parties are all roughly the same size.
These parties have their own political leanings, as their names might suggest, but they are better understood as being distinguished by different styles. For instance, the Parties on the Right tend to have more intense debates that cover topics beyond the political, such as
philosophy and
literature. The Parties on the Left tend to have relaxed debates with a more casual atmosphere than the Parties on the Right, while still engaging in political dialogue.
The Liberal Party is one of the three founding constituent Parties of the Political Union. Liberal Party debates tend to be slightly less formal in an attempt to facilitate learning, promote constructive debate, and provide a more relaxed environment.
The Progressive Party boasts of "debating silly topics using perfect parliamentary procedure." The Progressive Party prides itself on being able to bring a sense of a humor to the Union floor, and student Speakers at a debate should be prepared for one of the classic "Prog questions," which often contain a lot of innuendo and can be tricky to answer appropriately.
The Independent Party resulted from a name change by the original Conservative Party of the Yale Political Union in 1977, after the tumult of the 1970's left the Conservative Party's membership more moderate. Although the Independent Party is theoretically centrist, members cover the entire political spectrum, allowing the party to have discussions of more partisan topics in addition to traditional philosophical debates.
The current Conservative Party was founded in 1996. The Conservative Party's mission statement is to promote the development of "principled and profound leaders." They tend to be the folks with an American flag and a stack of canonical books.
The Tory Party split from the Party of the Right at the end of the 1960's as a result of a rift that had developed within the Party of the Right between libertarian and traditionalist factions. The Tory Party's attitude toward the Union has often been reserved, but they have recently begun to take more interest in the Union's affairs. The Tory Party generally remains a society of philosophical conservatives, tending toward Burkean traditionalism, an English aesthetic, and "reasoned conservatism."
The Party of the Right has throughout the years been a powerful force in the Union, often holding many of the elected Offices and maintaining the most consistent attendance and participation. The Party of the Right is the least politically or philosophically homogeneous of the Parties on the Right, and this diversity has, at times, led people to question the conservative nature of the Party of the Right. The Party is known for its goal of making Great Men and its mantra: "We care not what you think, only that you think."
Though the Yale Political Union was originally founded by a member of the Yale faculty, the current administration is generally unsupportive of the Union's efforts. Members offer different explanations for this fact; some suggest that the current administration does not see the value of having a central forum for channeling students' political energies and fostering debate, others offer that the administration may be dissuaded from assisting the Union because (in recent years) its more vocal members have become increasingly politically conservative.
All sides agree that the YPU is not as influential as it once was. Members note that this is the result of several factors. A few point to the presidency of current Massachusetts Senator
John F. Kerry, who was President of the YPU as an undergraduate at Yale. Kerry attempted to create a more national role for the organization, with a greater emphasis on outside speakers. This was not appreciated by some Union members who preferred a more insular Union, and given Kerry's subsequent prominence he is frequently cited as a negative turning point by members on the right, although he did enjoy enough support to be reelected. This push and pull between outside speakers and student debate has characterized the YPU for at least thirty years.
The YPU did regain some of its strength throughout the 1970s, until it suffered a severe blow shortly after
A. Bartlett Giamatti became the Yale President. Giamatti, violating numerous agreements and covenents established with the YPU, "repurposed" the YPU building/debate hall and turned it into a practice hall for aspiring Yale artists.
After several years of rebuilding, the YPU managed to recover its numerical strength. This recovery moved into rapid gear during Spring term of 1984 when membership tripled to 900 during a term highlighted by a nationally televised debate. By the end of 1986, active membership rolls comprised over 1200 members, nearly 1/4 of the entire student body at Yale, and the YPU successfully launched a Model Congress, a magazine, and an on-topic debate team. But the one-vote failure of an attempt to acquire the much financially stronger Yale International Relations (Model UN) program at Yale in Spring 1987, and the earlier 1980's loss of the YPU's dedicated facilities made this apparent recovery illusory, and the Union began to slip backwards again after a poor recruit in the fall of 1988. Such began another "time of troubles."
In the early 1990s, shrinking membership base largely reflected a politically apathetic student body. Though smaller, the parties were relatively stronger and tighter institutions during this period. The Spring elections of 1992 were marred by a scandal involving fraudulent voter qualification signatures. In the Spring of 1993, in the aftermath of a hotly contested Presidential election, bitterness manifested itself as executive board members continually threatened to leave executive board meetings to deprive the President of the quorum necessary for conducting business. Some of this enmity dissipated with the election of the next board.
One of the few enduring YPU spinoff publications,
Rumpus Magazine, was founded by members of the Progressive Party in 1992. For the first 3-4 years of its publication,
Rumpus remained closely linked to the YPU. One of the more sordid scandals of the period, involving a member who misappropriated the YPU's long-distance phone access number for calls to a racy 1-900 number from his senior single, was broken by
Rumpus in the Fall of 1994.
Further indignities were heaped upon the YPU by the Yale Administration in the 1990's, as they took away both the Crown Street offices, and the offices under Bingham Hall. During this process, many irreplaceable historical archives were lost.
The YPU hit a lowpoint in membership in the late 1990s. The YPU President, an Independent Party member, was impeached in the Fall of 1997, leading to the near collapse of the Independent Party. The effects of this crisis took some time to reverse, though by 2001 the Independent Party was largely restored and began an impressive period of growth.
Meanwhile, the foundation of the Conservative Party in 1996 led to several years of infighting on the right. The circumstances of the founding combined with the new problem of three debating organizations competing to recruit the limited supply of conservative undergraduates established a new equilibrium among the Parties in the YPU.
The Tory Party itself came close to destruction in 2002, but a renewed commitment to recruiting in competition with the other parties led to a restoration. The three parties on the Right are all a healthy size now, although the Party of the Right is currently the largest and most active in the Union.
The Yale Political Union as a whole has regained strength in recent years. Although membership remains roughly 25% of its last peak in the late 1980s, it is nevertheless still one of the largest undergraduate organizations at Yale, with hundreds of active members. A succession of qualified officers have run the Union well for over two years now, the quality of debate has improved significantly, and the infighting of the 90s has given way to an era of greater friendliness and cooperation between the parties. The YPU's relationship with the Yale administration has also improved markedly, and new members seem excited about the direction in which the Union is headed in the future.
Union Officers are elected at the end of each semester (except for the Treasurer who holds a year-long term).The Officers for the Fall Term 2006 are listed below. All Officers are members of the Executive Board of the Union, although not all of the Officers have votes on the Executive Board.
The recent constitutional amendments passed on April 4, 2006, created a new Advisory Committee to "advise the Executive Board and the President and . . . provide long term planning for the Union." Past Presidents of the Union are automatically nominated for membership, subject to approval by the Executive Board, and there may be up to four other members on the Committee at any one time (subject to nomination by the Chairman of the Committee and approval by the Executive Board). The Senior Sometime President on the Committee is constitutionally designated as the Chairman of the Committee.
Each Party in the Political Union is headed by a Chairman, although the Liberal Party uses the gender-neutral term 'Chair.' All of these Chairmen either serve personally on or send proxies to the Executive Board and the Rules Committee of the Union.
Notable Presidents of the YPU include:
*
William Bundy, Liberal Party, Spring and Fall 1938
*
Edwin Meese, Conservative Party, Fall 1951
*
John F. Kerry, Liberal Party, Fall 1964 and Spring 1965
*
J. Harvie Wilkinson, Conservative Party, Fall 1965 and Spring 1966
*
Fareed Zakaria, Party of the Right, Fall 1984
*
Yale Political Union*
The Liberal Party of the Yale Political Union*
The Progressive Party of the Yale Political Union*
The Independent Party of the Yale Political Union*
The Conservative Party of the Yale Political Union*
The Tory Party of the Yale Political Union*
The Party of the Right*
"The Rise and Fall of the Political Union", an essay by a Conservative Party member*
A Yale Daily News article describing the state of the YPU in 1996*
An article on Sen. John Kerry's YPU career, written by the first Chairman of the Tories, a political union contemporary
