Deliberative assembly

A deliberative assembly is an organization comprising members who use parliamentary procedure to make decisions. In a speech to the electorate at Bristol in 1774, Edmund Burke described the British Parliament as a "deliberative assembly,"^[1] and the expression became the basic term for a body of persons meeting to discuss and determine common action.

Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised describes certain characteristics of a deliberative assembly, such as each member having an equal vote and the fact that the group meets to determine actions to be taken in the name of the entire group.^[2] A deliberative assembly may have different classes of members. Common classes include regular members, ex-officio members, and honorary members.

Types

Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised identifies several types of deliberative assemblies, including:

• A mass meeting, which is an unorganized group meeting open to all individuals in a sector of the population who are interested in deliberating about a subject proposed by the meeting's sponsors. Examples include meetings to discuss common political concerns or community interests.^[3]
• A local assembly of an organized society, which is a membership meeting of a local chapter or branch of a membership organization.^[4] Examples include local chapter meetings of organizations like the Sierra Club.
• A convention, which is a meeting of delegates who represent constituent units of a population. Conventions are not permanently established bodies, and delegates are normally elected for only one term. A convention may be held by an organized society, where each local assembly is represented by a delegate.^[5]
• A legislative body, which is a legally established public lawmaking body. It consists of representatives chosen by the electorate. Examples include congresses, state legislatures, and city councils.^[6]
• A board, which is an administrative, managerial, or quasi-judicial body. A board derives its power from an outside authority that defines the scope of its operations. Examples include an organized society's or company's board of directors and government agency boards like a board of education.^[7]
• A committee, which is a small deliberative assembly subordinate to a larger deliberative assembly.^[8]

See also

• Deliberation
• Deliberative democracy
• Rules of order

Notes

Bibliography

• Burke, E. (1854). The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke (Vol. 1). London: Henry G. Bohn.
• Robert, H. M., Evans, W. J., Honemann, D. H., & Balch, T. J. (2000). Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (10th ed.). Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-7382-0384-X