In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, a parliamentarian is an expert on

parliamentary procedure Parliamentary procedure is the accepted rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings of an assembly or organization. Its object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of interest to the organization and thus to arrive at the sense ...

who advises organizations and

deliberative assemblies A deliberative assembly is a meeting of members who use parliamentary procedure. Etymology In a speech to the electorate at Bristol in 1774, Edmund Burke described the British Parliament as a "deliberative assembly," and the expression became the ...

. This sense of the term "parliamentarian" is distinct from the usage in parliamentary republics and monarchies as a synonym for

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 of ...

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

may advise the chair or members on parliamentary procedure in these jurisdictions).

Types

Some parliamentarians are officers or employees of the

deliberative assembly A deliberative assembly is a meeting of members who use parliamentary procedure. Etymology In a speech to the electorate at Bristol in 1774, Edmund Burke described the British Parliament as a "deliberative assembly," and the expression became the ...

that they serve, as in the case of the

Parliamentarian of the United States Senate The Parliamentarian of the United States Senate is the official advisor to the United States Senate on the interpretation of Standing Rules of the United States Senate and parliamentary procedure. Incumbent parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ...

. In most state legislative bodies, the secretary or chief clerk of the body serves as parliamentarian. In some organizations, a member of the organization may be appointed as the parliamentarian. Other parliamentarians have a contractual relationship, much like outside attorneys or accountants.

Duties

Parliamentarians are expected to be experts in meeting procedures and such books as ''

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 ...

'' ''Newly Revised'' as well as the rules of the body they are working for. A parliamentarian may be called in to assist in drafting bylaws. Other responsibilities may include teaching classes or holding office hours during conventions. Generally, the parliamentarian's role is purely advisory. At meetings, the parliamentarian should unobtrusively call the attention of the presiding officer to serious errors in procedure. However, the advice of a parliamentarian is generally not binding on the presiding officer of an assembly. If the parliamentarian is a member of the assembly, that person has the same rights as other members, but should not exercise those rights to maintain impartiality, similar to the impartiality that is required of the chairman. In other words, the parliamentarian should not be making motions, speaking in debate, or voting.

Certification

The highest certifications of parliamentarians are the Professional Registered Parliamentarian, or PRP (issued by the

National Association of Parliamentarians The National Association of Parliamentarians (NAP) says that it provides services and products to help its members and others to learn how to proceed with and manage meetings of assemblies such as school boards, homeowners associations, church b ...

) and the Certified Professional Parliamentarian, or CPP, or the Certified Professional Parliamentarian Teacher, or CPP-T (both issued by the

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 ...

Types

Duties

Certification

See also

References

Further reading