"The Party is organized to implement and give voice to the principles ... by ... moving public policy in a libertarian direction by building a political party that elects Libertarians to public office..."

"The Libertarian National Committee shall establish and oversee an organizational structure to implement the purposes of the Party."

"The Chair is the chief executive officer of the Party with full authority to direct its business and affairs, including hiring and discharging of National Committee volunteers and paid personnel, subject to express National Committee policies and directives..."

What should the National Committee be doing to put this effort into effect?

First and most important, the National Committee needs to identify what steps are needed to build an effective Party. Second, it needs to take appropriate actions to see that those steps are carried out.

How is this to be done? The Libertarian National Committee needs a subcommittee structure, each subcommittee to be composed of some National Committee members, those volunteers the National Chair is supposed to "hire", and staff to provide support especially for the most tedious aspects of the work. Between meetings of the National Committee, the subcommittees do the National Committee's work. In preparation for meetings, the Subcommittees deliver materials in a timely way, so that the full committee can arrived at its meeting site adequately briefed and ready to perform its tasks.

What are some of the obviously necessary subcommittees?

State and Local Organization. The Local Organization group keeps track of state parties, helps them to become more effective, and alerts the national committee when state affiliates cease to exist. It develops resources and materials to support state and local organizations. It helps publicize state and local parties.

Affinity Groups. The subcommittee on Affinity Groups supports libertarians in creating and developing special-interest groups that are entirely independent from the Libertarian Party and that will speak up for their particular issues from a libertarian perspective.

Elections. The Elections Subcommittee helps libertarians win elections. It recruits and trains candidates and volunteers, supports ballot access drives, assists candidates with publications, fund raising, and Get Out The Vote efforts, and collects and distributes useful information to candidates.

Political Action. The Political Action subcommittee supports substantive political activities, other than electioneering for elective office. It assists with referenda, and aids rallies, demonstrations, protests, letter writing campaigns, litigation, and peaceful petitions for redress of grievances.

Newsletter. The Newsletter subcommittee supports the Newsletter editor in assuring the regular monthly publication of an interesting National Party newsletter sent to members.

Web and Electronic Outreach. A web and electronic outreach subcommittee supports and maintains the party web pages and other forms of electronic outreach that may currently be significant.

Outreach. An Outreach subcommittee performs activities to help inform the public about libertarian positions on issues, including preparing press releases, pamphlets, and internet and broadcast advertising. It develops and supports publicity and advertising drives, responds to press inquiries, assists members with letter-writing drives, and produces and distributes outreach material.

Membership. The Membership subcommittee works to recruit and retain party members. It contacts new members to welcome them. It contacts inquirers and invites them to join. It encourages social events, public lectures, and other activities for prospective and current Members. It contacts persons who have ceased to be members to determine why they left.

Fund Raising. The Fund Raising subcommittee raises money. It cultivates individual donors and conducts periodic large scale fund raising campaigns It is scrupulous in promising donors how their money will be spent, and prompt and accurate in reporting to them and to the membership on how their money was actually spent.

Budget and Finance. The Budget and Finance Subcommittee prepares the draft budget and financial plan for the National Committee. It monitors spending for deviations from the budget and financial plan, and promptly reports deviations to the National Committee.

Convention. The Convention subcommittee organizes and conducts the biennial National Convention.

Audit and Compensation. The Audit and Compensation subcommittee conducts an annual substantive audit of Party spending to determine how all money was spent, to see that money was spent in accord with the budget and other National Committee directives. It presents activity-oriented cash flow reports, so that the National Committee can confirm that money is actually being spent on activities that advance the party's purposes. It separately audits each project-based fund raising effort to ensure that money was spent as promised by the National Committee. It determines if moneys have been received and spent in accord with Bylaws, National Committee actions, legal requirements, and fundamental ethical standards. It reports to the Membership and to the National Committee on irregularities, deficiencies, and deviations, and their causes, and recommends corrective measures.

I've undoubtedly left several groups off.

Underlying this proposal is a fundamental concept, namely that we should elect National Committee members who are competent activists who are willing to spend their time working for our party, and we should recruit other party activists and real professionals to make sure that real work actually gets done.