1st Edition · 24 August 2026 · 203 pages
On Model United Nations
Alejandro José Soto Franco
Licensed CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
A committee in session
The speakers list, the caucus that sorts the room into blocs, and the vote.
About the book
Model United Nations has no central authority, no single rulebook, and no body that certifies what a delegate has learned. This book describes the activity as it is actually practised: what it is and where it came from, how a committee works from the roll call to the vote, and how a delegate prepares, speaks, negotiates, and drafts. It is written for new delegates, veterans, team leaders, coaches, parents, and school administrators, and each of them can read the chapters written for them without reading the rest.
Model United Nationsrules of procedureparliamentary procedureposition papersresolutionscrisis committeesvoting powerdebate education
Contents
Part I. What Model UN Is
- Introduction to Model UN
- A short history of Model UN
- Regional traditions
- Conference ecosystem
Part II. How Model UN Works
- Rules of procedure
- Documents of the committee
- Committee types
- Crisis committees
- Voting
- Secretariat and dais
- Conference in person
Part III. How to Do Model UN Well
- Preparation and the position paper
- Speaking and signalling
- Negotiation and blocs
- Drafting working papers into resolutions
- Specialist court formats
- Across the language line
- Winning well
Appendices
- A. Position papers, four of them graded against one rubric
- B. Resolutions, four of them graded against one rubric
- C. Clause openings and the bodies of the United Nations
- D. An annotated collegiate consolidation
- E. Specialist-committee documents
- F. Catalogue of points and motions, every instrument on a coded card
- G. Question banks for delegate tests, with keys and marking notes
- H. Speech structures