Each ECPR Member is required to designate an Official Representative (OR) to act as the liaison point between the institution and ECPR.
The role of the OR is key to ensuring the individual scholars within each institution can make the most of ECPR Member benefits. The ORs make up ECPR’s Council and as such also play an important role in the organisation’s governance.
The main roles of Council are to:
- Elect new members to the Executive Committee (EC) every three years and delegate the running of the Consortium to the EC until the next election.
- Monitor and hold the EC accountable for its actions, chiefly through receiving annual reports from its main officers.
Speaker of Council
Council meets annually, presided over by a Speaker, and operates according to a set of Standing Orders.
The Speaker’s responsibilities include:
- chairing meetings of the Council
- proposing amendments to the Standing Orders of Council
- liaising with the EC over business matters and the formulation of the agenda of Council meetings
- serving as Returning Officer for EC elections and votes to amend the ECPR Constitution
- acting as a general liaison point for members of Council vis-à-vis the ECPR.
The Speaker of Council for the term 1 June 2022 – 31 May 2025 is Thomas Poguntke (Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf). The first Speaker was David Farrell (University College Dublin) who served 2013–17.
