We are now ready to begin the process of electing the first officers for the Cultural Evolution Society. The procedures outlined in this report were developed by the Elections Committee with input from an Election Advisory Group comprised of our members. This has been an intentional process of collaboration—keeping the founding membership updated throughout and inviting feedback along the way. Creating the society in this way gives us the opportunity to apply key insights from our field to the work at hand. Throughout the early stages, it became clear that a diversity mandate1 would be needed to specify the structural features for us to achieve our mission and advance cultural evolutionary studies together. The procedures outlined here are meant to address this mandate in an equitable and transparent manner. Our hope is that the outcome of this election will seed a “cultural genome” with the social norms and values that our members have requested of us.

1. Manual for Inaugural
Elections of the Cultural
Evolution Society
Prepared by:
Joe Brewer
Culture Designer
The Evolution Institute
March 21st, 2016

2. A Note About the Inaugural Election
We are now ready to begin the process of electing the first officers for the Cultural Evolution
Society. The procedures outlined in this report were developed by the Elections Committee with
input from an Election Advisory Group comprised of our members. This has been an intentional
process of collaboration—keeping the founding membership updated throughout and inviting
feedback along the way.
Creating the society in this way gives us the opportunity to apply key insights from our field to the
work at hand. Throughout the early stages, it became clear that a diversity mandate would be1
needed to specify the structural features for us to achieve our mission and advance cultural
evolutionary studies together. The procedures outlined here are meant to address this mandate in
an equitable and transparent manner.
Our hope is that the outcome of this election will seed a “cultural genome” with the social norms
and values that our members have requested of us.
CES Elections Committee CES Election Advisory Group
Joe Brewer Francisco Benavente
Marcus Feldman Michelangelo Conoscenti
Cristine Legare David J. Cox
Sarah Mathew Nasser Farhat
Richard McElreath Pieter Francois
Peter Turchin (Chair) Jose-Michael Gonzalez
Dan Hoyer
Chris Jensen
Marcus Petz
Kelly Pivik
Ilfryn Price
Ingunn Sandaker
Peeter Tinits
Ben Zhu
www.slideshare.net/joebrewer31/a-mandate-for-deep-diversity-in-the-cultural-evolution-society1
Manual for Inaugural Elections of the Cultural Evolution Society Prepared on March 21st, 2016

3. Description of Officer Positions
We do not yet have an official set of bylaws—as they will be formally adopted by the Executive
Committee that takes office after this inaugural election. This creates an awkward situation where it
is necessary to provide descriptions for officer positions on the Elections Committee before it has
been fully designated and ratified by the membership.
Last fall, we formed a volunteer Bylaws Committee from our membership that has laid the
groundwork for a set of bylaws to be ready for consideration by the soon-to-be-formed Executive
Committee. The officer positions presented here were developed from that conversation, informed
later by the two election groups mentioned above. At this point we have a set of positions to fill
with descriptions of roles and responsibilities that are intentionally tentative, as they are awaiting the
official bylaws for their formal definitions. With this caveat in mind, here are the officer positions for
the inaugural election.
List of Officers
There are a total of 13 positions to be filled—president, secretary, treasurer, two student
representatives and eight members at large.
There will be one male and one female student representative and four of the members at large will
be representatives from major world regions outside of North America and Europe (one each from
Africa, Asia, South America, and the Middle East). Care will also be taken to represent the
intellectual diversity of our field by having a mix of disciplinary backgrounds represented by the
members at large.
A mandate for gender equality in leadership has been issued that will further require 50% of those
elected (at least six of the thirteen positions) will be filled by women. The only acceptable reason for
deviating from this goal would be if, despite all efforts by the nominations committee, a sufficient
number of qualified candidates from a particular gender could not be recruited.
Ensuring these diversity criteria are met will be the responsibility of the Elections Committee.
President :: This person chairs meetings of the Executive Committee and gives a yearly
report at the annual conference. They also have tie-breaking ability for votes made during
meetings.
Secretary :: This person records the minutes of meetings and registers votes when
decisions are made during meetings. They are also responsible for two-way communication
between the Executive Committee and the general membership.
Treasurer :: This person is responsible for fiscal matters of the society, from the collection
of dues and conference registration. They manage budgets and maintain transparent
Manual for Inaugural Elections of the Cultural Evolution Society Prepared on March 21st, 2016

4. communication with the Executive Committee and general membership about the financial
health of the society.
Eight Members-at-Large :: These people represent the diverse intellectual interests of
the society. Four shall come from non-Western world regions (one each from Africa, Asia,
South America, and the Middle East) and at least four academic fields outside of biology
shall be represented by this group of people.
Two Student Representatives :: These people represent the early career perspective of
students. There will be one male and one female student representative.
Terms of Office
All officers are elected for a two-year term, with the start date coinciding with the annual meeting.
Every year only half of the positions are replaced by newly elected officers, ensuring better
continuity of the governing board.
The exception to this is the position of president. Each individual elected to the presidency will
serve a three year term. During the first year (starting at the annual meeting) they serve as
president-elect. During the second year they become president. And during the third year they
continue to serve an advisory role as past president.
These terms will be clarified by the Executive Committee as they adopt formal bylaws between
now and the first conference of the society, which is scheduled for late 2017 with a date to be
determined.
Procedures for Running the First Elections
All members in good standing (which currently means those who have completed the member
profile questionnaire) should nominate individuals to run for office. These nominations should be
sent by email to me, the project coordinator, and I will collate them for review by the Elections
Committee. The time period for nominations will be March 21st through April 11th—giving three
weeks for people to be nominated.
Starting on April 11th, the Elections Committee will review the nominations and prepare a list of 3-4
candidates for each position. We will use weightings for (a) strength of intellectual or career
background as contributors to the field of cultural evolution; (b) institutional affiliations as proxies for
credibility as representatives for a scientific society; (c) past experience in society governance or
other leadership roles; (d) combined with the diversity criteria mentioned above. Additionally, we will
give weight to the number of times a person has been nominated as an indicator of being a good
fit for whichever position they are nominated for. This process will help us reduce the number of
potential candidates in a professional and equitable manner.
Manual for Inaugural Elections of the Cultural Evolution Society Prepared on March 21st, 2016

5. The Elections Committee will then approach the candidates until two agree to run. The principles of
structural inclusivity outlined in the diversity mandate (reflected in the requirements above for officer
descriptions) will be used to ensure that candidates for office represent the desired level of diversity
with respect to gender, ethnicity, and disciplinary background. Regional inclusivity is addressed by
electing world region representatives to the Executive Committee as described above for the
members at large.
Elections will run from April 25th to May 9th. All members in good standing will cast one vote for
each of the positions. The elections will be held online using survey software, such as Qualtrics or
SurveyMonkey (details forthcoming).
Special Circumstances for the First Election
Half of the Executive Committee members (with the exception of president, secretary, and
treasurer) will run for one-year terms to ensure a regular rotation afterwards. Of the two candidates
running for the presidency, the one gaining the most votes will become president and the one
gaining fewer votes will become president-elect.
These special criteria only apply in this inaugural election—to ensure continuity of leadership in the
first two years of society governance.
Summary of Timeline for Inaugural Election
In closing, the timeline and procedure will look roughly as follows. Nominations will be gathered for
a three week period, with two weeks to confirm candidates, followed by a two week voting period.
At the end of this process, we will have the first Executive Committee for the Cultural Evolution
Society—with built-in diversity representation for gender, stage of career, disciplinary background,
and geographic areas of the world. From there we can engage in the process of formally adopting
bylaws and getting into the detailed planning for conferences, journals, collaborative research
projects, curriculum design, and more.
Manual for Inaugural Elections of the Cultural Evolution Society Prepared on March 21st, 2016