Junior State of America

The Junior State of America (formerly Junior Statesmen of America) (“JSA”) is an American non-partisan student-run youth organization. The purpose of the JSA is to help high school students acquire leadership skills and the knowledge necessary to be effective citizens and voters. The JSA is sponsored by the Junior Statesmen Foundation (“JSF”), which also assists in the operation of the JSA Summer Schools.

Overview

Students organize every aspect of the organization, from the local chapter level to the multi-state level. The members elect leaders to organize JSA conventions, conferences, and political awareness events.

JSA is both a local and a national organization. The JSA is organized by "states", somewhat congruous with the real U.S. states. At the high school chapter level, chapter presidents organize local activities and meetings. On the regional level, "Mayors" and "Vice-Mayors" organize one-day regional conferences and coordinate chapter communication. On the state level, "Governors" and "Lieutenant Governors" organize overnight conventions and other activities. On the national level, Governors are in communication with each other planning convention themes and steering the direction of the organization. This national power has no judicial or legislative checks and balances.

The JSA program includes debates, “thought talks”, problem solving, and a variety of simulations designed to provide members with an informed viewpoint and the ability to analyse important issues. Simulations include, for example, model United Nations, model Congress (with a Senate and House of Representatives), crisis simulations, and other activities. JSA provides an opportunity to meet other students from outside their home communities who share similar interests; furthermore, debate conventions usually include various evening activities like dining downtown or impromptu debate.

In addition to sponsoring the JSA, the JSF sponsors 3- and 4-week "Summer School" sessions for JSA members. These are held at Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and Georgetown and week-long symposium on state and local politics in several states. The revenue from these programs help fund the school-year JSA program.

History

The JSA was founded in 1934 by Professor E.A. Rogers (affectionately referred to as "Prof Rogers" by JSA enthusiasts) at the Montezuma Mountain School in Los Gatos, California, as an experiment in self-government. Students at the Montezuma Mountain School set up their own tree-branch government, complete with a student court, police force, executive officer, and legislative branch. The students would draft, pass, and enforce their own rules.

The JSA has had liaisons with other similar organizations outside of the United States. For example, throughout the 1980s the Pacific-Northwest State developed close ties with the British Columbia Youth Parliament (BCYP). "Ambassadors" were invited from the Pacific-Northwest State to attend the December BCYP legislative session in Victoria, British Columbia, as well a number of BCYP sponsored events, including the "Vernon Conference" held in 1985, a project to celebrate the U.N. International Year of the Youth, involving the BCYP, the TUXIS Parliament of Alberta, and the JSA. In turn, the BCYP would send delegates to attend Pacific-Northwest Spring and Fall State. The Southern California state also added the American School in Honduras as a chapter in 2006 and the school's chapter attended the annual Congress convention.

Since its inception in 1934, more than 500,000 student members have participated in the JSA. Former members include Mike McCurry (press secretary under Bill Clinton), Edwin Meese (Attorney General under Reagan), and businessman Charles Schwab.

Structure

For practical purposes, the JSA is broken down into nine different tree-level branches. Most of these top-level branches are called States, others are Territories, and more are Regions. States are the most advanced and contain the most members, then territories, and then regions. When a region contains a pre-specified number of chapters and members, it may petition the Council of Governors (composed of the Governors from all States) to become a territory. When a territory attains a certain number of members and chapters, it may petition the Council of Governors for statehood.

The current top-level branches of JSA are:
* Northern California State
* Northeast State
* Mid-Atlantic State
* Florida Territory
* Midwest State
* Ohio River Valley State
* Texas State
* Pacific-Northwest State
* Southern California State

When a state becomes too large, the Council of Governors (the national executive branch, consisting of governors from every state) as well as the legislative branch of the state-at-hand can break the state into two or more parts. The parts that break off of the state are known as territories, and gain statehood upon reaching a certain number of constituents and approval of the Council of Governors. JSA also includes an international chapter in Tegucigalpa, Honduras and the United States Virgin Islands.

In addition, substructures of states are regions, such as in the Northeast State with the Northeast Region (NER) and the Empire Constitution Region (ECR).

The sponsoring JSF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with an adult board of trustees and paid staff. The JSA receives administrative and programming support from the JSF.

JSA events

Fall and spring state conventions

Fall and Spring State are state-wide overnight conventions at regional hotels and convention centers. Both consist of debates, thought talks, and special activities, including political fairs and a casual dance. Fall State is one night, students typically arrive at the hotel on a Saturday and return home the following day. Spring State, by comparison, usually takes place over three days, students arriving at the hotel on a Friday and returning on Sunday. At this longer spring convention JSA members in attendance elect regional leaders for the upcoming year. Both Fall and Spring State conventions are highlighted by prestigious keynote speakers. Past speakers at the Northern California Region's Conventions include Stanley "Tookie" Williams (in attendance by telephone), Snoop Dogg, and William J. Perry, former Secretary of Defense under Bill Clinton (94-97). Speakers at Mid-Atlantic, and more recently the Pacific Coast, Region Conventions include Ralph Nader.

Winter Congress convention

Winter Congress is structured more like an actual Congress: students are divided into Senate and House of Representative committees. Each student then goes to their assigned house and passes or rejects bills, depending on how well the debaters perform and what the students support. The bills that pass both houses of the Congress may then be introduced into a "full session" of Congress if a Senator or Representative chooses to sponsor the bill. At certain Congress conventions, students join political parties during Winter Congress which have platforms on all of the bills up for debate. Candidate declarations are also held during Winter State, beginning the election season. Past speakers have included Joe Trippi, former Congressman Bob Barr, Senator Orrin Hatch, Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England, His Excellency Imad Moustapha (Syrian Ambassador to the United States), and Qubad Talabani (Son of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani)

Regional conferences

There are also smaller, regional conferences and mini-conferences ("minicons") which occur on a local level. Regionals are run by the Mayors and Vice-Mayors of Regions along with the Regional Cabinet members that they appoint. Minicons are usually hosted by chapters at individual schools and are not officially JSA-sponsored events.

Elected positions and cabinet

As a student-run organization, the JSA leadership consists of students elected to the various JSA offices. Elections occur each year at the Spring State convention and are major events. Races are regulated by a Fair Elections Committee (FEC) that sets spending limits and regulates campaigning.

Once elected, elected officials may appoint a "Cabinet" to help run the organization. Prospective cabinet members often need to complete an application to be considered for a position. In some states cabinet members need to be approved by the Senate or State Assembly. These appointments range from Convention Coordinator, CIA Director, REC Director, and varying positions under those such as Director of Logistics, CIA and REC agents who facilitate communication with individual JSA chapters.

State top officials

The State elected officials (Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker) lead the top-level branches of JSA.

Governor

The position of governor is the highest elected position in JSA. The governor has the job of appointing a state cabinet, (among other things) that gets work done at the JSA state level.

The Council of Governors (COG) is an assembly of all Governors to run JSA at the national level. The COG has the authority to determine if territories can become states. One serves on the JSF as a trustee. Unlike in individual JSA states, there is no legislative check on the Council's powers.

Lieutenant Governor

The Lieutenant Governor is second-in-command to the Governor. He or she also runs the Fair Elections Committee (FEC). In some states, the Lieutenant Governor is also in charge of the Senate, State Assembly, and/or the Regional Expansion Committee.

Convention Coordinator

The Convention Coordinator controls all three conventions throughout the year. He or she is responsible for planning events and logistical organization ensuring the overall success of conventions. CC is also in charge of making sure that every convention staff is up-to-date and is getting his or her job done. It is also the responsibility of the CC to write the agenda for the conventions with limited oversight from the JSA paid staff.

State/Regional Liaison

The Liaison serves as both the supervisor and the primary resource for the state's regional officials in regards to conferences/conventions and mediates/advocates on behalf of both state and regional officials.

Director of Debate

The DoD works in conjunction with the CC. The DoD drafts debate resolutions, thought talks, and other activities with oversight from the CC and Governor. He or she is also responsible for signing up speakers at the conventions. Although the DoD is allowed to participate in election campaigns, he or she is frequently prepared by cabinet to take over as CC the following year as a senior. In some states, however, the DoD is totally independent of the Convention Department and, thus, serves as an equal peer of the CC, such as in the Ohio River Valley.

Director of Logistics

The DoL holds an extremely important position within the State, being that it is their responsibility to ensure that people get where they need to go efficiently, safely, and quickly. Often, they are responsible for moving around up to 1200 delegates within the confines of a large convention center or hotel. The DoL (for those States that have Winter Congress in Washington, DC)is also responsible for moving all of the delegates from hotels in Crystal City to the Dirkson and Hart Senate Office Buildings, and afterwards, must often move the masses of delegates to the Capitol Building to hear more speakers.

Speaker

The position of speaker exists only in the states of Northern California, Southern California, and Texas. The Speaker presides over the State Assembly. In other states, that job defaults to the Lieutenant Governor who, in some states, appoints a President Pro-Tempore from the Assembly Representatives to jointly run the body.

Regional elected officials

Every top-level JSA branch is divided into a few parts, called "Regions". Every Region has a Mayor and a Vice-Mayor. Some Regions also have Senators.

Mayor

The Mayor is a very important and critical part of a state. He or she leads the entire region, which ranges from a large city area to a combination of parts of several states. He or she is responsible for the well-being of his or her region, as well as planning and executing the one-day regional conventions/conferences and helping with the over-night conventions.

Vice Mayor

This officer assists the Mayor, and takes his or her place in case of absence or resignation. A primary role of the Vice Mayor is to keep up on the status of all chapters within the region, and make sure the Chapter Presidents have everything they need to succeed.

Senator

Most of the regions each elect a certain number of senators, depending on the state. These work under their regional mayors as well as the state Lt. Governor and represent their regions on the state level. Once again, not all regions do this. In some states each senator does a Personal Outreach Project, or a POP, which the senator has their project to assist the average JSA member become more involved.

Summer events

After the school year is over, JSA chapter members can participate in numerous student-run events over the summer. The biggest events, which are held at various universities, are the JSA Summer Schools. The Summer Schools, conducted by the JSF, offer students an opportunity to study local, state, or national government at an advanced level. These programs are meant to prepare young leaders for active participation in public affairs.

These programs, at which students take a full semester each of two courses over four weeks (with the exception of the Georgetown programs, lasting three weeks), for which they can receive high school credit, take place at Stanford, Georgetown, Princeton, and Yale. Past speakers have included Mike McCurry, Andy Card, Lee Hamilton, Norman Mineta, Joe Trippi, Dennis Kucinich, Chuck Hagel, Katie Couric, Brian Williams, Geraldine Ferraro, John Kerry, Harry Reid, Barack Obama, Ted Rall, George H.W. Bush, Condoleezza Rice, Ed Meese, William Perry, Brian Williams and Karl Rove.

Summer symposia are also held in different regions, such as the summer school symposium of Ohio State University, University of Washington and University of Southern California. These events are one- to two-weeks long and venture into politics, world studies, history, and discussions of current events.

Every summer, the newly elected governors each choose a select few from his or her state/territory to attend the Montezuma National Leadership Summit (affectionately known as "Zuma"). The summit is held in early-to-mid August at Presentation Center in Los Gatos, California, the former site of the Montezuma Mountain School where JSA was founded in 1934. Students who are selected to attend this summit learn more about the history and national dynamics of JSA. Being selected for attendance is considered one of the ultimate JSA honors. Subsequently, 2-3 students are selected out of class to become a National Montezuma Foundation Student Advisor, working with the Junior State Foundation to preside over budget and funding allocations for the National Montezuma Summit.

References

External links

* [http://www.jsa.org The JSA Website]
* [http://www.orvjsa.org Ohio River Valley State Website]
* [http://www.midwestjsa.org Midwest JSA Region Website]
* [http://www.northeastjsa.org The Northeast State Website]
* [http://www.midatlanticjsa.org The Mid-Atlantic State Website]
* [http://www.texasjsa.org The Texas State Website]
* [http://www.socaljsa.org The Southern California State Website]
* [http://www1.freewebs.com/jsanorcal The Northern California Website]