If we do not count the 18 General Chapters celebrated during the great western schism from that part of the Order which was professing allegiance to the popes of Avignon, this will be the 287th Chapter since the approval of the Order on 22nd December 1216. For this reason, we consider that everyone would benefit from a detailed explanation of the nature, functions and composition of a General Chapter, giving particular emphasis, without fear of exaggeration, to the fact that the Dominican Order, by its composition, powers and functions, is the first democracy of the Church and the world. The Chapter's plenitude of powers and its legislative function certainly put the Order in a position of continuous renewal, which has allowed it, in every age, to be in harmony with the demands of changes in the Church and the world, and has saved it from the splits and divisions that other religious families could not escape. The task of the Chapter is fundamentally a legislative one, and a law passed by it, out of respect for its authority, does not need the confirmation of the Pope or the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
Every Chapter is fully autonomous and sovereign.
Six years after the election of the Master, the Chapter of Provincials is held, in which only Provincials, Vice-Provincials and Vicars General participate. They, too, are elected democratically by the voting base, but in another way, they represent the ruling class of the Order. This constitutes a unique and distinct system in the history of the Church. The first Chapter of this kind was convoked in Paris in 1228 by the successor of Saint Dominic, Blessed Jordan of Saxony. The second took place in 1236.