12 Concepts


	The 12 Concepts of Alcoholics Anonymous
1.	Final responsibility and ultimate authority for A.A. world services should always reside in the collective
	conscience of our whole Fellowship.
2.	The General Service Conference of A.A. has become, for nearly every practical purpose, the active voice and
	the effective conscience of our whole Society in its world affairs.
3.	To insure effective leadership, we should endow each element of A.A. — the Conference, the General Service
	the effective conscience of our whole Society in its world affairs.
4.	At all responsible levels, we ought to maintain a traditional “Right of Participation,” allowing a voting
	representation in reasonable proportion to the responsibility that each must discharge.
5.	Throughout our structure, a traditional “Right of Appeal” ought to prevail, so that minority opinion will be heard
	and personal grievances receive careful consideration.
6.	The Conference recognizes that the chief initiative and active responsibility in most world service matters
	should be exercised by the trustee members of the Conference acting as the General Service Board.
7.	The Charter and Bylaws of the General Service Board are legal instruments, empowering the trustees to
	manage and conduct world service affairs. The Conference Charter is not a legal document; it relies upon
	tradition and the A.A. purse for final effectiveness.
8.	The trustees are the principal 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.
9.	Good service leadership at all levels is indispensable for our future functioning and safety. Primary world
	service leadership, once exercised by the founders, must necessarily be assumed by the trustees.
10.	Every service responsibility should be matched by an equal service authority, with the scope of such
	authority well defined.
11.	The trustees should always have the best possible committees, corporate service directors, executives,
	staffs and consultants. Composition, qualifications, induction procedures, and rights and duties will always be
	matters of serious concern.
12.	The Conference shall observe the spirit of the A.A. tradition, taking care that it never becomes the seat of
	perilous wealth or power; that sufficient operating funds and reserve be its prudent financial principle; that it
	place none of its members in a position of unqualified authority over others; that it reach all important decisions
	by discussion, vote, and, whenever possible, by substantial unanimity; that its actions never be personally
	punitive nor an incitement to public controversy; that it never perform acts of government, and that, like the
	Society it serves, it will always remain democratic in thought and action.

	Reprinted with Permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.

The 12 Concepts of Alcoholics Anonymous