How Liberal International Produces Its Resolutions and Policy Documents

Liberal International (LI) develops its policy positions through a layered process that runs from its member parties and committees up to its Congress and Executive Committee. The organisation publishes three main categories of formal positions — World Today Resolutions, Congress Resolutions, and Executive Committee Resolutions — alongside broader Policy Documents. These texts are adopted at specific meetings, published through LI's own channels, and then serve as reference points and advocacy tools for member parties, think tanks, and NGOs across five continents.

The Three Types of Resolutions

LI's own navigation distinguishes between three resolution streams, which correspond to different levels of decision-making within the federation.

The distinction matters if you are trying to cite LI: a Congress Resolution carries the weight of the full membership, while an Executive Committee Resolution reflects the standing leadership body acting in the interval between Congresses.

Where Decisions Are Made

The decision-making calendar is set out in LI's Calendar of Events, which lists the recurring meetings that feed into the resolutions process:

• Congress Meetings — the largest gathering, where World Today and Congress Resolutions are adopted.
• Executive Committee Meetings — the body that can adopt resolutions between Congresses.
• LI HRC Parliamentarians' Meetings — a human rights–focused parliamentary track.
• Isaiah Berlin Lecture Series — a public-facing event rather than a decision-making one, but part of the same programme calendar.

The Human Rights Committee, Climate Justice Committee, and Fair Trade Committee sit alongside these, and their subject areas map directly onto the themes that appear in LI's published positions.

How a Position Moves from Committee to Published Text

Based on the structure LI presents, the path from idea to published document follows this sequence:

1. Input from members and committees. Member parties, co-operating organisations, and think tanks — the categories LI lists under "Become a member" — bring forward concerns. The thematic committees (Human Rights, Climate Justice, Fair Trade) are the natural channel for these.
2. Drafting and debate. The text is prepared for consideration at the relevant meeting. Human rights work, for example, is supported by a dedicated Human Rights Toolkit and Human Rights Publications, which suggests drafting draws on existing LI human rights documentation.
3. Adoption. The resolution is adopted either at Congress or by the Executive Committee, depending on timing and scope.
4. Publication. Adopted texts are published under the Resolutions and Policy section, split into World Today Resolutions, Congress Resolutions, Executive Committee Resolutions, and Policy Documents.
5. Use. Member parties and organisations reference the adopted positions in their own advocacy and policy work.

What the Resolutions Are Actually Used For

The published texts are not internal minutes. LI's stated mission is "promoting liberal values at an international level" together with "parties in government and opposition," and the resolutions are the mechanism by which a shared position is recorded and circulated.

Two functions follow from that:

• Advocacy reference. A member party or parliamentarian can point to an adopted LI resolution as the collective position of the federation. LI's own news output illustrates this in practice — for example, its appeal to the UN Human Rights Council regarding Venezuela, and its statement welcoming a New York agreement on Greenland, both framed as LI positions rather than individual party statements.
• Coordination across borders. Because membership spans Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East & North Africa, North America, and a "Worldwide" category, a resolution gives parties in different systems a common reference text.

Practical Notes If You Want to Follow or Cite the Process

• Check which body adopted the text. The resolution category tells you whether it reflects the full Congress or the Executive Committee.
• Use the thematic entry points. If your interest is human rights, climate justice, or fair trade, the committee pages and their associated publications and toolkits are the most direct route to the underlying material.
• Watch the events calendar. New positions are tied to Congress and Executive Committee meetings, so the calendar is the earliest signal of when new texts will appear.
• Congress 2026 is flagged on the site as an upcoming gathering, which is where the next round of Congress-level resolutions would be adopted.

The site also notes that LI runs a quarterly newsletter and offers internship opportunities, both listed under "Get Involved" — useful if you want to track new resolutions as they are published rather than searching the archive after the fact.