European Parliament Strasbourg Hemicycle - Diliff

Parliamentary procedure is the accepted rules,

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...

, and

customs Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...

governing meetings of an assembly or

organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived f ...

. Its object is to allow orderly

deliberation Deliberation is a process of thoughtfully weighing options, usually prior to voting. Deliberation emphasizes the use of logic and reason as opposed to power-struggle, creativity, or dialogue. Group decisions are generally made after deliberatio ...

upon questions of interest to the organization and thus to arrive at the sense or the will of the

majority A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-WebsterSelf-governing organizations follow parliamentary procedure to

debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...

and reach group decisions, usually by

vote Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holde ...

, with the least possible friction. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

, and other English-speaking countries, parliamentary procedure is often called ''chairmanship'', ''chairing'', the ''law of meetings'', ''procedure at meetings'', the ''conduct of meetings'', or the ''standing orders''. In the United States, it is referred to as ''parliamentary law'', ''parliamentary practice'', ''legislative procedure'', ''rules of order'', or ''Robert's rules of order''. Rules of order consist of rules written by the body itself (often referred to as

bylaws A by-law (bye-law, by(e)law, by(e) law), or as it is most commonly known in the United States bylaws, is a set of rules or law established by an organization or community so as to regulate itself, as allowed or provided for by some higher authorit ...

), usually supplemented by a published

parliamentary authority A parliamentary authority is a book of rules for conducting business ( parliamentary procedure) in deliberative assemblies. Several different books have been used by legislative assemblies and by organizations' deliberative bodies. Application to ...

adopted by the body. Typically, national, state or provincial and other full-scale legislative assemblies have extensive internally written rules of order, whereas non-legislative bodies write and adopt a limited set of specific rules as the need arises.

History

The term ''parliamentary procedure'' gets its name from its use in the

parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of th ...

of government. In the 16th and 17th century, the

parliaments of England This is a list of parliaments of England from the reign of King Henry III, when the '' Curia Regis'' developed into a body known as Parliament, until the creation of the Parliament of Great Britain in 1707. For later parliaments, see the List ...

began adopting rules of order. In the 1560s Sir Thomas Smyth began the process of writing down accepted procedures and published a book about them for the House of Commons in 1583. Early rules included: * One subject should be discussed at a time (adopted 1581) * Personal attacks are to be avoided in debate (1604) * Debate must be limited to the merits of the question (1610) * Division of a question into parts to be voted on separately (1640)

Westminster procedures

The Westminster parliamentary procedures are followed in several

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa. In Canada, for example, the House of Commons uses ''House of Commons Procedure and Practice'' as its primary procedural authority. Others include

Arthur Beauchesne Arthur Beauchesne, (June 15, 1876 – April 7, 1959) was a Canadian civil servant who was Clerk of the House of Commons from 1925 to 1949. He is the author of the procedural manual, '' Rules and Forms of the House of Commons of Canada'', whic ...

's ''Parliamentary Rules and Forms of the House of Commons of Canada'', Sir John George Bourinot's ''Parliamentary Procedure and Practice in the Dominion of Canada'', and Erskine May's ''The Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Parliament'' from Britain.

American procedures

The rules of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

were developed from parliamentary procedures used in Britain. Many nations' legislatures follow American parliamentary procedures, including

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Other

The procedures of the

Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paral ...

moved away from the British parliamentary model, when in Occupied Japan, there were efforts to align Japanese parliamentary procedures with American congressional practices. In Japan, informal negotiations are more important than formal procedures. In Italy, written rules govern the Houses of the Parliament. The Constitutional Court judges the limits beyond which these regulations cannot go, exceeding the parliamentary or political function (judgement n. 120 of 2014) and on their bad application when a law is passed.

Parliamentary authority usage patterns

Parliamentary procedure is based on the principles of allowing the majority to make decisions effectively and efficiently (

majority rule Majority rule is a principle that means the decision-making power belongs to the group that has the most members. In politics, majority rule requires the deciding vote to have majority, that is, more than half the votes. It is the binary deci ...

), while ensuring fairness towards the minority and giving each member or delegate the right to voice an opinion.

Voting Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holde ...

determines the will of the assembly. While each assembly may create their own set of rules, these sets tend to be more alike than different. A common practice is to adopt a standard reference book on parliamentary procedure and modify it through special rules of order that supersede the adopted authority. A parliamentary structure conducts business through motions, which cause actions. Members bring business before the assembly by introducing main motions. "Members use subsidiary motions to alter a main motion, or delay or hasten its consideration." Parliamentary procedure also allows for rules in regards to nomination, voting, debate, disciplinary action, appeals, and the drafting of organization

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the re ...

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...

s, and

Organizations and civic groups

Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised aspires to be a comprehensive guide: "New editions have marked the growth of parliamentary procedure as cases occurring in assemblies have pointed to a need for further rules or additional interpretations to go by." Robert's Rules of Order The Modern Edition, and The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure aspire to be concise. "This book is a basic reference book but does not claim to be comprehensive. For most organization and for most meetings, it will prove very adequate." "Alice Sturgis believed that confusing or unnecessary motions and terminology should be eliminated. Her goal was to make the process simpler, fairer, and easier to understand, and The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure did just that ..." Some parliamentary guides, in order from most to least best selling according to Amazon's "Best Seller's Rank", as viewed on Amazon's web site March 9, 2022: Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised; Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised in Brief; Robert's Rules of Order The Modern Edition; Robert's Rules of Order: The Original Manual; The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure; Demeter's Manual of Parliamentary Law and Procedure: Blue Book Edition. A common text in use in the UK, particularly within

trade unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

, is Lord Citrine's ''

ABC of Chairmanship ''A.B.C. of Chairmanship'' by Walter Citrine is considered by many in the Labour and Union movements of the UK to be the definitive book on how meetings should be run and how committees should be managed.Typical usage seTUC guideline article

''. In English-speaking Canada, popular authorities include Kerr & King's ''Procedures for Meeting and Organizations''. The

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Co ...

uses ''Wainberg's Society meetings including rules of order'' to run its internal affairs. In French-speaking Canada, commonly used rules of order for ordinary societies include Victor Morin's '' Procédures des assemblées délibérantes'' (commonly known as the ''Code Morin'') and the ''Code CSN''.

Legislatures

Legislative assemblies in all countries, because of their nature, tend to have a specialized set of rules that differ from parliamentary procedure used by clubs and organizations. In the United Kingdom,

Thomas Erskine May Thomas Erskine May, 1st Baron Farnborough, (8 February 1815 – 17 May 1886) was a British constitutional theorist and Clerk of the House of Commons. His seminal work, ''A Treatise upon the Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Parliame ...

's '' Treatise on the Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Parliament'' (often referred to simply as ''Erskine May'') is the accepted authority on the powers and procedures of the Westminster parliament. There are also the Standing Orders for each House. Of the 99 state legislative chambers in the United States (two for each state except

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

, which has a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

legislature), '' Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure'' governs parliamentary procedures in 70; '' Jefferson's Manual'' governs 13, and ''

Robert's Rules of Order ''Robert's Rules of Order'', often simply referred to as ''Robert's Rules'', is a manual of parliamentary procedure by U.S. Army officer Henry Martyn Robert. "The object of Rules of Order is to assist an assembly to accomplish the work for which ...

'' governs four. The

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

follows the Standing Rules of the United States Senate, while the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

follows '' Jefferson's Manual''. ''Mason's Manual'', originally written by constitutional scholar and former California Senate staff member Paul Mason in 1935, and since his death revised and published by the

National Conference of State Legislatures The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), established in 1975, is a "nonpartisan public officials’ association composed of sitting state legislators" from the states, territories and commonwealths of the United States. Background ...

(NCSL), governs legislative procedures in instances where the state constitution, state statutes, and the chamber's rules are silent.National Conference of State Legislatures web site
/ref> According to the NCSL, one of the many reasons that most state legislatures use ''Mason's Manual'' instead of ''Robert's Rules of Order'' is that ''Robert's Rules'' applies best to private organizations and civic groups that do not meet in daily public sessions. ''Mason's Manual'', however, is geared specifically toward state legislative bodies.

Parliamentarians

In the United States, individuals who are proficient in parliamentary procedure are called parliamentarians (in other English-speaking countries with parliamentary forms of government, "parliamentarian" refers to a

member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

). Several organizations offer certification programs for parliamentarians, including the National Association of Parliamentarians and

American Institute of Parliamentarians The American Institute of Parliamentarians (AIP) is a not-for-profit educational organization founded in 1958. The objectives of AIP are to promote the use and teaching of parliamentary procedure, as well as the training and certification of parli ...

. Agriculture teachers who coach teams in the parliamentary procedure contest of the

National FFA Organization National FFA Organization is an American 501(c)(3) youth organization, specifically a career and technical student organization, based on middle and high school classes that promote and support agricultural education. It was founded in 1925 at ...

(formerly Future Farmers of America) can earn the title Accredited Parliamentarian (AP). Parliamentarians perform an important role in many meetings, including counseling organizations on parliamentary law, holding elections, or writing amendments to the constitution and

of an organization.

References

External links

The Robert’s Rules Association

National Conference of State Legislatures: Using Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure

National Association of Parliamentarians (parliamentarians.org)

American Institute of Parliamentarians (aipparl.org)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parliamentary Procedure Political law