Demand Justification for ASA Dues Increase
We the undersigned members of the American Sociological Association hereby register our concern with the ASA's recent announcement of a dues increase in the February issue of Footnotes (see http://www.asanet.org/footnotes/mar11/dues_0311.html). The stated rationale for the dues increase is that the ASA dues schedule should be more progressive. We support the principle of progressive taxation and we are willing to believe that the previous dues schedule was not sufficiently progressive. However, the ASA statement does not explain why it is asking for a substantial *aggregate* increase in dues (see http://scatter.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/dues-increase/). We believe that any *aggregate* increase in dues can be justified only by: (a) an increase in the expenses necessary to provide the ASA's service to its members; and (b) a benchmarking analysis that shows that the ASA's expenses, and its dues schedule, against those of ASA's peers (e.g., APSA, AEA, AAA). Until the ASA leadership has provided a compelling justification that meets these criteria, we urge our fellow ASA members to vote against the new dues schedule.
Comment