Before proceeding to determine the meaning of the term committee, one must know its etymological origin. In this case, we can state that it derives from English and this from French “committee”. However, this Gallic word comes, in turn, from the Latin “committere”, which is the result of the sum of two clearly delimited components:
-The prefix “with”, which means “together”.
-The verb “mittere”, which is synonymous with “send” and “promise”.
It is a term that, apparently, was created at the beginning of the seventeenth century, specifically in the year 1621, in the House of Lords in London. Specifically, it was created to define the group of political representatives who met with the clear objective of being able to solve a specific problem.
The concept can be used as a synonym for commission: a group of individuals who work together to solve a problem or carry out a project.
For example: “The government decided to convene the crisis committee to assist the victims of the flood”, “The legislators proposed to create a committee that is in charge of controlling the expenses of the Executive Power”, “The player could be punished by the Committee Discipline ”.
Although the characteristics of the committee vary according to the type of entity, it can be said that it is a working group that has certain powers. Some committees function permanently and others are convened on special occasions.
The body that is in charge of directing a political party, in this framework, is known as a committee. In some countries the term is also used to name the place where the militants of a political party meet: “Tomorrow there will be a meeting in the committee to define the last details of the campaign”, “The party committee decided to expel the deputy after his controversial statements “, ” The writer was a member of the Socialist Party committee for eight years. “
The International Olympic Committee, on the other hand, is the body in charge of organizing the Olympic Games and promoting Olympism worldwide. It was founded in 1894 in France with the aim of retaking the tradition started with the Olympic Games of old.
In the same way, we cannot forget that there is also what is known as a works council. This is a group made up of people from the same company who act as representatives of the rest of the company’s workers. Hence, for example, they are not only in charge of resolving any type of wage dispute but also proceed to negotiate certain conditions with the owners and managers of the aforementioned company. We are referring to aspects such as salary increases, working conditions, vacations, overtime…
Union delegates or representatives is the name given to the members of the aforementioned committee, who are democratically elected by their colleagues.
