Parliamentary authority

A parliamentary authority is a manual on parliamentary law, containing rules of order for the transaction of business in deliberative assemblies.^[1] The society generally adopts such a book to cover meeting procedure not covered in the society's adopted procedural rules.^{[2] [3] [4]}

Contents 1 Practices 2 Examples 3 References 4 See also 5 Further reading 5.1 Non-legislative authorities 5.2 Legislative authorities 5.3 Comparative 6 External links

Practices

A poll by Jim Slaughter surveyed Certified Professional Parliamentarians (CPPs) in 1999 to ask what percent of clients used each parliamentary authorities. The results were published in 2000 in Parliamentary Journal, the official journal of the American Institute of Parliamentarians: 90 percent used Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR), 8 percent used The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure (TSC) (Sturgis), and 3 percent used some other authority, including Demeter's Manual of Parliamentary Law and Procedure (Demeter), Riddick's Rules of Procedure (Riddick/Butcher), Bourinot's Rules of Order (Bourinot), and Rules of Order (Davis). Bourinot was used in Canada.^[5]

Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, first published in 1876 by Colonel Henry Martyn Robert, is currently in its eleventh edition, published in 2011, is the most popular and well-known parliamentary authority.^[6]

The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure, first published in 1950 by Alice Sturgis and referred to as TSC or Sturgis, is currently in its fourth edition, published in 2001. It is used by many medical associations of physicians and dentists, including the American Medical Association House of Delegates and American Association of Orthodontists as well as by the Association of Flight Attendants and American Library Association.^[7]

Demeter's Manual of Parliamentary Law and Procedure, first published in 1948 by George Demeter and called "the Blue Book," is the third-most popular parliamentary authority. It is often favored by labor unions.^[8][9]

Rules in a parliamentary authority can be superseded by the group's constitution, bylaws or by adopted procedural rules (with a few exceptions). In RONR the adopted procedural rules are called special rules of order. Assemblies that do not adopt a parliamentary authority may use an existing parliamentary authority by custom, or may consider themselves governed by the “common parliamentary law”,^[10] or “common law of parliamentary procedure”.^[11] RONR notes that a society that has adopted bylaws that do not designate a parliamentary authority may adopt one by the same vote required to adopt special rules of order. A mass meeting can adopt a parliamentary authority by a simple majority vote. RONR notes that “in matters on which an organization's adopted parliamentary authority is silent, provisions found in other works on parliamentary law may be persuasive – that is, they may carry weight in the absence of overriding reasons for following a different course – but they are not binding on the body.” ^[12]

Some societies write their own parliamentary authority for use specifically for their own assembly.

Examples

• Bourinot's Rules of Order
• Jefferson's Manual
• Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure
• Morin code
• Riddick's Rules of Procedure
• Robert's Rules of Order
• The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure
• Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice

References

See also

• Rules of order

Further reading

Non-legislative authorities

• Canada
  • Kerr, M. Kaye; King, Hubert W. (1996). Procedures for Meetings and Organizations (3rd ed.). Toronto: Carswell Legal Publications. ISBN 0-459-56034-4. 
  • Morin, Victor. Procédure des assemblées délibérantes. 
  • Stanford, Geoffrey H. (1995). Bourinot's Rules of Order (4th ed.). Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 0-7710-8336-X. 
• United States
  • Robert, Henry M. (2000). Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (10th ed.). Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing. ISBN 073820384X. http://www.robertsrules.com/book.html.  (PB). ISBN 0-7382-0307-6. 
  • AIP, Revision Committee; Alice Sturgis (2001). The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure (4th ed.). NewYork: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-136513-3. http://www.parliamentaryprocedure.org/bookstore.htm. 
  • Demeter, George (1969). Manual of Parliamentary Law and Procedure (Blue Book ed.). Boston: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-18030-0. 
  • Randolph, Mary; Rempel, Ann (2005). Fundamentals of Parliamentary Law and Procedure (3rd ed.). American Institute of Parliamentarians. ISBN 0840381352. 
  • Cannon, Hugh (2000). Cannon's Concise Guide to Rules of Order. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0395621305. 
  • Riddick, Floyd M.; Buther, Mirian H. (1985). Riddick's Rules of Procedure: Modern Guide to Faster and More Effective Meetings. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN 0819180645. 
  • Robert McConnell Productions. Webster's New World: Robert's Rules of Order Simplified and Applied. 

Legislative authorities

• Australia
  • Australian House of Representatives Practice
• Canada
  • Fraser, Alistair; Dawson, W. F. (1988). Beauchesne's Parliamentary Rules and Forms of the House of Commons of Canada (6th ed.). Scarborough, Ont: The Carswell Legal Pubns. ISBN 0-459-32481-0. **
• United Kingdom
  • McKay, Sir William (2004). Erskine May's Treatise on the Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Parliament (23rd ed.). London: Butterworths Law. ISBN 9780406970947. 
• United States
  • Sullivan, John V. (2007). Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and Rules of the House of Representatives 110th Congress. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. ISBN 9780160789731. http://www.gpoaccess.gov/hrm/browse_109.html. 
  • National Conference of State Legislators (2000). Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure. Eagan, MN: West Group. ISBN 1-58024-116-6. http://www.ncsl.org/programs/pubs/summaries/017180-sum.htm. 
  • Jefferson, Thomas (1801). Manual of Parliamentary Practice (1st ed.). Washington, DC: Samuel Harrison Smith. http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/JefBv022.html. 

Comparative

• AIP (2003). Comparisons of Parliamentary Authority. Wilmington, DE: AIP Education Department.  A self-study quiz book keyed to RONR (10th), TSC (4th), Demeter's Manual (Blue book ed.) and Riddick's Rules of Procedure.

• NAP (1997). Parliamentary Parallels : a comparison of the similarities and differences of major parliamentary authorities. Independence, MO: National Association of Parliamentarians. ISBN 1-884048-23-4.  Compares seven Parliamentary Authorities; however, it uses RONR (9th ed.) and TSC (3rd ed.) in the comparison.

External links

• The Official Robert's Rules site
• The Advantages of Mason's Manual for Legislative Bodies
• Full text of U.S. Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and Rules of the House of Representatives
• Searching for Procedural Rules for Decision Making in Policy Governance

Parliamentary procedure Major concepts Deliberative assembly · Motions · Main motion · Quorum · Session · Chair · Committee · Committee of the whole · Dilatory motions and tactics · Minutes · Second · History of parliamentary procedure · Principles of parliamentary procedure · Voting methods in deliberative assemblies · Floor Subsidiary motions Postpone indefinitely · Amend · Commit · Postpone to a certain time · Limit or extend limits of debate · Previous question · Lay upon the table · Place upon the table Privileged motions Call for the orders of the day · Raise a question of privilege · Recess · Adjourn · Fix the time to which to adjourn Incidental motions Point of order · Appeal · Suspend the rules · Objection to the consideration of a question · Division of a question · Consideration by paragraph or seriatim · Division of the assembly · Motions relating to methods of voting and the polls · Motions relating to nominations Incidental motions (Requests and inquiries) Parliamentary inquiry · Point of information · Request for permission to withdraw or modify a motion · Request to read papers · Request to be excused from a duty · Request for any other privilege Motions that bring a question again before the assembly Take from the table · Rescind, repeal, annul or amend something previously adopted · Discharge a committee · Reconsider Legislative procedure Call of the house · Hoist · Pass on Disciplinary procedures Censure · Declare the chair vacant · Impeach · Naming Parliamentary authorities Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR) · The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure (TSC or Sturgis) · Demeter's Manual of Parliamentary Law and Procedure · Riddick's Rules of Procedure · Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure · Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice