The AA 12 Concepts for World Service can be thought of as the “Government Bylaws” for the entire global organization of Alcoholics Anonymous.
While the 12 Steps are for personal recovery (how to get sober) and the 12 Traditions are for local groups (how to keep a meeting running), the 12 Concepts explain how the global organization works, handling things like publishing books, organizing international conventions, and making sure no one person becomes the “boss” of AA.
The 12 Concepts (Long Form)
| Concept | The Official Text | Simplified Translation |
| I | The final responsibility and the ultimate authority for A.A. world services should always reside in the collective conscience of our whole Fellowship. | The Rule: The big decisions belong to the members in the meetings, not a “boss” at headquarters. |
| II | When, in 1955, the A.A. groups confirmed the permanent charter for their General Service Conference, they thereby delegated to the Conference complete authority for the active maintenance of our world services and thereby made the Conference—excepting for any change in the Twelve Traditions or in Article 12 of the Conference Charter—the actual voice and the effective conscience for our whole Society. | Delegation: The groups officially gave their “voting power” to a representative assembly (the Conference) so things can actually get done. |
| III | As a traditional means of creating and maintaining a clearly defined working relation between the groups, the Conference, the A.A. General Service Board and its several service corporations, staffs, committees and executives, and of thus insuring their effective leadership, it is here suggested that we endow each of these elements of world service with a traditional “Right of Decision.” | Right of Decision: We trust our council to make everyday choices without needing an organization-wide vote for every pencil bought. |
| IV | Throughout our Conference structure, we ought to maintain at all responsible levels a traditional “Right of Participation,” taking care that each classification or group of our world servants shall be allowed a voting representation in reasonable proportion to the responsibility that each must discharge. | Right of Participation: Every group gets a seat and a vote proportional to their job. |
| V | Throughout our world service structure, a traditional “Right of Appeal” ought to prevail, thus assuring us that minority opinion will be heard and that petitions for the redress of personal grievances will be carefully considered. | Right of Appeal: Even if you’re the only one who disagrees, the fellowship has to listen to your argument before moving on. |
| VI | On behalf of A.A. as a whole, our General Service Conference has the principal responsibility for the maintenance of our world services, and it traditionally has the final decision respecting large matters of general policy and finance. But the Conference also recognizes that the chief initiative and the active responsibility in most of these matters should be exercised primarily by the Custodial Trustees of the Conference when they are acting as the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous. | Trustee Responsibility: The Conference (the voters) has the final say, but the Board (the “Principals”) does the actual heavy lifting. |
| VII | The Conference recognizes that the Charter and the Bylaws of the General Service Board are legal instruments: that the Trustees are thereby fully empowered to manage and conduct all of the world service affairs of Alcoholics Anonymous. It is further understood that the Conference Charter itself is not a legal document: that it relies instead upon the force of tradition and the power of the A.A. purse for its final effectiveness. | Legal vs. Traditional: The Board has the “legal” keys to the building, but the members have the power because they provide the funding. |
| VIII | The Trustees of the General Service Board act as the primary planners and administrators of overall policy and finance. They have custodial oversight of the separately incorporated and constantly active services, exercising this through their ability to elect all the directors of these entities. | The Planning Team: The Trustees are the “Superintendents” who manage the money and pick the directors of the various departments. |
| IX | Good service leaders, together with sound and appropriate methods of choosing them, are at all levels indispensable for our future functioning and safety. The primary world service leadership must necessarily be assumed by the Trustees of the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous. | Good Leadership: You can’t just pick the popular kids; you need to pick people who are actually good at leading and organizing. |
| X | Every service responsibility should be matched by an equal service authority—the scope of such authority to be always well defined whether by tradition, by resolution, by specific job description or by appropriate charters and bylaws. | Clear Authority: If you give someone a job, give them the power to do it, and make sure everyone knows exactly where their job starts and ends. |
| XI | While the Trustees hold final responsibility for A.A.’s world service administration, they should always have the assistance of the best possible standing committees, corporate service directors, executives, staffs, and consultants. Therefore the composition of these underlying committees and service boards, the personal qualifications of their members, the manner of their induction into service, the systems of their rotation, the way in which they relate to each other, the special rights and duties of our executives, staffs, and consultants, together with a proper basis for the financial compensation of these special workers, will always be matters for serious care and concern. | The Best Committees: The Board shouldn’t try to do everything alone; they need to hire experts and form smart committees to handle the details. |
| XII | General Warranties of the Conference: in all its proceedings, the General Service Conference shall observe the spirit of the A.A. Tradition, taking care that the Conference never becomes the seat of perilous wealth or power; that sufficient operating capital, plus an adequate reserve, be its prudent financial principle; that none of the Conference members shall ever be placed in a position of unqualified authority over any of the others; that all important decisions be reached by discussion, vote, and whenever possible, by substantial unanimity; that no Conference action ever be personally punitive or an incitement to public controversy; that though the Conference may act for the service of Alcoholics Anonymous, it shall never perform any acts of government; and that, like the Society of Alcoholics Anonymous which it serves, the Conference itself will always remain democratic in thought and action. | The Warranties: The “Bill of Rights” that promises AA will never become a government, never get too rich, and always stay humble and democratic. |
What are they used for?
In short, they are the operating manual to keep the organization from falling apart. Without them:
- Power Struggles: One person might try to take over the whole organization.
- Money Issues: The organization might start chasing profit instead of helping people.
- Chaos: No one would know who is responsible for printing the “Big Book” or running the website.
The Concepts ensure that Alcoholics Anonymous stays “upside down”, meaning the members at the bottom are actually the ones in charge of the leaders at the top.
Comments
One response to “12 Concepts for World Service”
Great summary and synopsis.
I encourage anyone who has worked the 12 steps and 12 traditions with a sponsor, to explore the 3rd Legacy of AA, General Service. Your Intergroup office located at 4407 Beltwood Pkwy N, Farmers Branch, TX 75244 and aa.org have the book “The AA Service Manual combined with the Twelve Concepts for World Service” by Bill W., ask or search for BM-31 (internal book id) $5.75. Or just click this link. https://onlineliterature.aa.org/Service-Manual-12-Concepts
Should anyone be interested in General Service, I would be more than happy to share my experience participating in a study of this book with a former Area Delegate, and my experience as the Treasurer of District 22 of NETA65. I would be more than willing to serve as a GSR or Alternative GSR for AA101 should AA101 decide to join a District, and have their vote count in the governing body of AA as a whole. Participation is the key to Harmony.
the Responsibility Statement – “If anyone anywhere reaches out for help, I want the Hand of AA to always be there. For that, I am responsible.”