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Council

Group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions

Council
Summary

Group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions

[[Greater London Authority]] Chamber

A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or national level are not considered councils. At such levels, there may be no separate executive branch, and the council may effectively represent the entire government. A board of directors might also be denoted as a council.

A committee might also be denoted as a council, though a committee is generally a subordinate body composed of members of a larger body, while a council may not be. Because many schools have a student council, the council is the form of governance with which many people are likely to have their first experience as electors or participants.

A member of a council may be referred to as a councillor or councilperson, or by the gender-specific titles of councilman and councilwoman.

In politics

Notable examples of types of councils encountered in politics include:

  • Borough council, a form of local government
  • Catholic ecumenical councils, ecclesiastical gatherings for ordering the Catholic Church.
  • City council, a form of local government.
  • Community council, the most local official representative body in Scotland and in Wales.
  • Council of Europe, a political, intergovernmental organization with 47 member countries.
  • Council of the European Union, the upper house of the European Union.
  • Council of state, an organ of government in many states.
  • County council, a council that governs a county in the British Isles.
  • District council, a unit of government in various jurisdictions.
  • Ecumenical council, pan-Christian discussion bodies.
  • European Council, the body of heads of states or of governments of the European Union.
  • Labour council, an association of labour unions or union branches in a given area.
  • Municipal council, a form of local government.
  • National security council, an executive-branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues.
  • Parish council (England), a form of local government in part of the United Kingdom.
  • Privy council, a body that advises the head of state of a country.
  • Provincial council, a governing body for a province.
  • Regional council, a local-government body in various countries.
  • Shire council, an entity of local government in Australia.
  • Shura Council, the formerly upper house of the Egyptian parliament.
  • Town council, a democratically elected form of government for small municipalities or parishes
  • Tribal council, First Nations' and Native American Nations' governing bodies
  • Research Councils UK, government agencies responsible for an area of research in the United Kingdom
  • United Nations Security Council, a decision-making body at the United Nations
  • Vatican Council, a high-level policy-council of the Roman Catholic Church
  • Village council (State of Palestine), a local-government body in Palestine
  • Workers' council, a council composed of working-class or proletarian members.

In other fields

Types of councils encountered in other spheres include:

  • Arts council: a government or private, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts.
  • Bar council: a professional body that regulates the profession of barristers together with the Inns of Court.
  • Buddhist councils: important historical events in the history of Buddhism.
  • Council (Boy Scouts): a non-profit private corporation within Boy Scouts of America.
  • Ecumenical council: a meeting of the bishops of the whole church convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice.
  • Military council:
  • Science research council
  • Student council: a student organization present in many elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities.
  • Synod: in a Christian church.
  • University Council: running a university.
  • War Council: discussions pertaining to a declaration of war, or tactics and strategy of a coming battle.
  • Works council: a body representing the workers of a plant, factory, etc., elected to negotiate with the management about working conditions, wages, etc.
  • Youth council: an example of youth voice engaged in youth-led decision-making.

References

References

  1. "Council Definition".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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