''Robert's Rules of Order'', often simply referred to as ''Robert's Rules'', is a manual of
parliamentary procedure
Parliamentary procedures are the accepted Procedural law, rules, ethics, and Norm (sociology), customs governing meetings of an deliberative assembly, assembly or organization. Their object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of inte ...
by U.S. Army officer
Henry Martyn Robert (1837–1923). "The object of Rules of Order is to assist an assembly to accomplish the work for which it was designed
..Where there is no law
..there is the least of real liberty." The term ''Robert's Rules of Order'' is also used more generically to refer to any of the more recent editions, by various editors and authors, based on any of Robert's original editions, and the term is used more generically in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
to refer to parliamentary procedure. It was written primarily to help guide voluntary associations in their operations of governance.
Robert's manual was first published in 1876 as an adaptation of the rules and practice of the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
to suit the needs of non-legislative societies. ''Robert's Rules'' is the most widely used manual of parliamentary procedure in the United States.
It governs the meetings of a diverse range of organizations—including church groups, county commissions, homeowners' associations, nonprofit associations, professional societies, school boards, trade unions, and college fraternities and sororities—that have adopted it as their
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 ...
.
Robert published four editions of the manual before his death in 1923, the last being the thoroughly revised and expanded Fourth Edition published as ''Robert's Rules of Order Revised'' in May 1915.
History

A U.S. Army officer, Henry Martyn Robert (1837–1923), saw a need for a standard of parliamentary procedure while living in
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. He found San Francisco in the mid-to-late 19th century to be a chaotic place where meetings of any kind tended to be tumultuous, with little consistency of procedure and with people of many nationalities and traditions thrown together.
The first edition of the book, whose full title was ''
Pocket Manual of Rules of Order for Deliberative Assemblies'', was published in February 1876 by the then-Major Robert, with the short title ''Robert's Rules of Order'' placed on its cover.
The procedures prescribed by the book were loosely modeled after those used in the United States House of Representatives, with such adaptations as Robert saw fit for use in ordinary societies. Although he was in the military, the rules in his book were not based on military rules. The author's interest in
parliamentary procedure
Parliamentary procedures are the accepted Procedural law, rules, ethics, and Norm (sociology), customs governing meetings of an deliberative assembly, assembly or organization. Their object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of inte ...
began in 1863 when he was chosen to preside over a church meeting and, although he accepted the task, he felt that he did not have the necessary knowledge of proper procedure.
In his later work as an active member of several organizations, Robert discovered that members from different areas of the country had very different views regarding what the proper parliamentary rules were, and these conflicting views hampered the organizations in their work.
He eventually became convinced of the need for a new manual on the subject, one which would enable many organizations to adopt the same set of rules.
Henry M. Robert himself published four editions of the manual before his death in 1923, the last being the thoroughly revised and expanded Fourth Edition published as ''
Robert's Rules of Order Revised for Deliberative Assemblies'' in May 1915. By this time Robert had long been retired from the Army with the rank of brigadier general. The revisions were based on the feedback from hundreds of letters that Robert had received through the years.
In addition, to explain the rules in ''Robert's Rules of Order Revised'' (abbreviated ROR), Robert published an introductory book for beginners titled ''Parliamentary Practice: An Introduction to Parliamentary Law'' in 1921 and a full book of explanations titled ''Parliamentary Law'' in 1923.
Special rules
In those cases in which the bylaws or other governing documents of an organization refer to "Robert's Rules of Order", certain rules in the book may be subordinate to other specified rules, including any conflicting provisions in applicable law, the corporate charter, the constitution or bylaws, and special rules of order.
Even if an organization has adopted ''Robert's Rules of Order'', it can still adopt its own rules which supersede any rules in this book.
The only limitations might come from the rules in a parent organization or from national, state, or local law. An example of a rule that organizations sometimes adopt is one that allows the use of
proxy voting
Proxy voting is a form of voting whereby a member of a decision-making body may delegate their voting power to a representative, to enable a vote in absence. The representative may be another member of the same body, or external. A person so ...
. Such a rule is not allowed unless the organization specifically provides for it in its bylaws.
Concise editions
Since the
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...
s for several of the original editions (1915 or earlier) have expired, numerous other books and manuals have been published incorporating "Robert's Rules of Order" as part of their titles, with some of them based on those earlier editions (see
List of books with Robert's Rules in the title). Some examples are
*''Robert's Rules of Order'' (1989) by Darwin Patnode, PhD, past President of the American Institute of Parliamentarians. Simplified and updated based on the original 1876 edition,
Thomas Nelson,
*''
The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure
''The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure'' (formerly the ''Sturgis Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure'' by Alice Sturgis) is a book of rules of order. It is the second most popular parliamentary authority in the United States after ...
''
*''Robert's Rules in Plain English, Second Edition'' (2005) by Doris P. Zimmerman,
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...
,
*''Robert's Rules Simplified'' (2006), by Arthur T. Lewis and Henry M. Robert,
Dover Publications
Dover Publications, also known as Dover Books, is an American book publisher founded in 1941 by Hayward and Blanche Cirker. It primarily reissues books that are out of print from their original publishers. These are often, but not always, book ...
,
*''In Brief''
Henry M. Robert III, grandson of the original author and Trustee for the Robert's Rules Association, had acknowledged that "there has been controversy among parliamentarians concerning the length of ''Robert's Rules'' in its various editions and the complexity of the rules it describes."
As a result, a supplemental book was developed.
In 2005, a shorter reference guide, ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised In Brief'' (abbreviated RONRIB), was published by the same authorship team and publisher as the Tenth Edition of ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'' (RONR) and was made to be in accord with that edition of RONR. A third edition of this shorter guide was published in 2020 to conform with the current Twelfth Edition of ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised''.
The ''In Brief'' book is the only concise guide for ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'' authorized by the Roberts Rules Association, and is intended as an introductory book for those unfamiliar with
parliamentary procedure
Parliamentary procedures are the accepted Procedural law, rules, ethics, and Norm (sociology), customs governing meetings of an deliberative assembly, assembly or organization. Their object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of inte ...
.
The authors say, "In only thirty minutes, the average reader can learn the bare essentials, and with about ninety minutes' reading can cover all the basics."
It is meant to be an introductory supplement to the current edition of ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'' and is not suitable for adoption as a
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 ...
in itself.
Comprehensive editions
Through a family trust, and later through the Robert's Rules Association (which is made up of descendants of Henry M. Robert), several subsequent editions of ''Robert's Rules of Order'' have been published, including another major revision of the work. The Seventh Edition, published in February 1970 on the 94th anniversary of the publication of the First Edition, was the first under the title ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'' (RONR). The subsequent editions were based on additional feedback from users, including feedback received by electronic means in recent years. These later editions included material from Robert's ''Parliamentary Practice'' and ''Parliamentary Law''.
The current edition of the series became effective on September 1, 2020, under the title ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', Twelfth Edition. This edition states that it:
The authorship team of the current Twelfth Edition consists of a grandson of General Robert, an attorney, a lobbyist and legislative analyst, a mathematics professor, and a copy editor, all of them being experienced
parliamentarians.
More than six million copies have been printed (which is a total of all editions).
The following table lists the official versions of the body of work known as ''Robert's Rules of Order'' developed by Henry M. Robert and maintained by his successors.
Purpose
Generally, ''Robert's Rules of Order'' is a guide for conducting meetings and making decisions as a group. The purpose of the book is "to enable assemblies of any size, with due regard for every member's opinion, to arrive at the
general will
In political philosophy, the general will () is the will of the people as a whole. The term was made famous by 18th-century Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. It can be considered as an early, informal predecessor to the idea of a social ...
on the maximum number of questions of varying complexity in a minimum amount of time and under all kinds of internal climate ranging from total harmony to hardened or impassioned division of opinion".
The book is designed for use in
ordinary societies rather than
legislative assemblies, and it is the most commonly adopted parliamentary authority among societies in the United States.
It is also recognized as "the most widely used reference for meeting procedure and business rules in the English-speaking world".
The book states that it is "a codification of the present-day general parliamentary law".
"General parliamentary law" refers to the common rules and customs for conducting business in organizations and assemblies. It does not refer to statutory legal requirements nor to common-law precedent derived from court judgments. In other words, the book is about procedures for meetings and not about what is "legal" (i.e. it is not a
law book).
As a reference, it is designed to answer, as nearly as possible, any question of
parliamentary procedure
Parliamentary procedures are the accepted Procedural law, rules, ethics, and Norm (sociology), customs governing meetings of an deliberative assembly, assembly or organization. Their object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of inte ...
that may arise.
The Twelfth Edition contains 633 pages of text, and all of its original content was included because it "has at some time come up as a question of procedure somewhere".
The completeness of the book was made so that organizations would not have to write extensive rules for themselves. In addition, members of different organizations could refer to the same book of rules.
Henry M. Robert III responded to the simplification by saying the following:
Contents of current (12th) edition
The contents of the current (12th) edition of ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'' (RONR), published in 2020, include details on the types of groups that use the book, the ways that decisions could be made, and the various situations in which decisions are made.
Basics
The Introduction in the book provides a
history of parliamentary procedure and includes the background and history of Robert's Rules of Order. Rules in the book are based on the rights of the majority, of the minority (especially a strong minority that is greater than one third), of individual members, of absentees, and of all these together. Some
fundamental principles upon which the book is based include: one question at a time; one person, one vote; and a vote being limited to members present.
A group that uses the book is called a
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
Edmund Burke (; 12 January ew Style, NS1729 – 9 July 1797) was an Anglo-Irish Po ...
. The types of deliberative assemblies are a
mass meeting
In parliamentary law, a mass meeting is a type of deliberative assembly or popular assembly, which in a publicized or selectively distributed notice known as the call of the meeting - has been announced: (RONR)
*as called to take appropriate act ...
, a local assembly of an organized society (local club or local branch), a
convention, a
legislative body
A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers o ...
, and a
board. An organization may have rules which could include a
corporate charter
In corporate governance, a company's articles of association (AoA, called articles of incorporation in some jurisdictions) is a document that, along with the memorandum of association (where applicable), forms the company's constitution. The ...
, a
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed.
When these pri ...
or
bylaws, rules of order (
special rules of order and
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 ...
),
standing rules, and customs. To conduct business, groups have meetings or
sessions that may be separated by more than or be within a
quarterly time interval. The types of meetings are a regular meeting, a special meeting, an
adjourned meeting, an
annual meeting, an
executive session
An executive session is a term for any block within an otherwise open meeting (often of a board of directors or other deliberative assembly) in which minutes are taken separately or not at all, outsiders are not present, and the contents of the dis ...
, a public session, and
electronic meetings.
A member of a deliberative assembly has the right to attend meetings, make motions, speak in debate, and vote. The process of making a decision is done through a
motion
In physics, motion is when an object changes its position with respect to a reference point in a given time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed, and frame of reference to an o ...
, which is a proposal to do something. The formal steps in handling a motion are the making of a motion, having a second, stating the motion, having
debate
Debate is a process that involves formal discourse, discussion, and oral addresses on a particular topic or collection of topics, often with a moderator and an audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for opposing viewpoints. Historica ...
on the motion, putting the motion to a
vote
Voting is the process of choosing officials or policies by casting a ballot, a document used by people to formally express their preferences. Republics and representative democracies are governments where the population chooses representative ...
, and announcing the results of the vote. Action could be taken informally without going through these steps by using
unanimous consent
In parliamentary procedure, unanimous consent, also known as general consent, or in the case of the parliaments under the Westminster system, leave of the house (or leave of the senate), is a situation in which no member present objects to a propo ...
. When making a choice, the basic principle of decision is
majority vote
A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the "#Related terms, Related terms" section below.
It is a subset of a Set (mathematics), set consisting of more than half of the se ...
. In situations when more than majority vote is required, the requirement could include a
two-thirds vote
A supermajority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority rules in a democracy can help to prevent a majority from eroding fun ...
,
previous notice
In parliamentary procedure, a motion is a formal proposal by a member of a deliberative assembly that the assembly take a particular action. These may include legislative motions, budgetary motions, supplementary budgetary motions, and petitionary ...
, or a vote of a
majority of the entire membership
A supermajority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority rules in a democracy can help to prevent a majority from eroding fun ...
.
Motions
The book provides details about
main motions including the motion to
ratify
Ratification is a principal's legal confirmation of an act of its agent. In international law, ratification is the process by which a state declares its consent to be bound to a treaty. In the case of bilateral treaties, ratification is usuall ...
. In addition, the book
lists other motions and provides details (including explanations, forms, and examples) on these motions which include:
*
Subsidiary motion
In parliamentary procedure, a motion is a formal proposal by a member of a deliberative assembly that the assembly take a particular action. These may include legislative motions, budgetary motions, supplementary budgetary motions, and petitionary ...
s –
postpone indefinitely
In parliamentary procedure, the motion
In physics, motion is when an object changes its position with respect to a reference point in a given time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, accelerati ...
,
amend,
commit or refer,
postpone to a certain time In parliamentary procedure in the United States, a motion to postpone to a certain time (or postpone definitely or postpone) is used to delay action on a pending question until a different day, meeting, hour or until after a certain event. Then, wh ...
,
limit or extend limits of debate
Debate in parliamentary procedure refers to discussion on the merits of a pending question; that is, whether it should or should not be agreed to. It is also commonly referred to as "discussion".
Purpose
When a motion has been made and is before ...
,
previous question
In US parliamentary procedure, the previous question (also known as "calling for the question", "calling the question", "close debate", "calling for a vote", "vote now", or other similar forms) is generally used as a motion to end debate on a pend ...
, and
lay on the table
*
Privileged motion
Privileged may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Privileged'' (TV series), a 2008 US television series
* ''Privileged'' (film), a 1982 Hollywood film
Other uses
* Immunologically privileged site, a body location where immune response to ...
s –
call for the orders of the day,
raise a question of privilege,
recess,
adjourn
In parliamentary procedure, an adjournment ends a meeting. It could be done using a motion to adjourn. A time for another meeting could be set using the motion to fix the time to which to adjourn.
Law
In law, to adjourn means to suspend or postp ...
, and
fix the time to which to adjourn
In parliamentary procedure, an adjournment ends a meeting. It could be done using a motion to adjourn. A time for another meeting could be set using the motion to fix the time to which to adjourn.
Law
In law, to adjourn means to suspend or pos ...
*
Incidental motions –
point of order
In parliamentary procedure, a point of order occurs when someone draws attention to a rules violation in a meeting of a deliberative assembly.
Explanation and uses
In ''Robert's Rules of Order, Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'' (RONR), a ...
,
appeal
In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...
,
suspend the rules
In United States parliamentary procedure, a suspension of the rules allows a deliberative assembly to set aside its normal rules to do something that it could not do otherwise. However, there are rules that cannot be suspended.
Explanation of use ...
,
objection to the consideration of a question
__NOTOC__
In parliamentary procedure, an objection to the consideration of a question is a motion that is adopted to prevent an original main motion from coming before the assembly. This motion is different from an objection to a unanimous cons ...
,
division of a question,
consideration by paragraph or seriatim,
motions relating to methods of voting and the polls
Deliberative assembly, Deliberative assemblies – bodies that use parliamentary procedure to arrive at Decision making, decisions – use several methods of voting on motion (parliamentary procedure), motions (formal proposal by members of a delib ...
,
motions relating to nominations,
request to be excused from a duty, and
requests and inquiries (
parliamentary inquiry,
request for information
A request for information (RFI) is a common business process whose purpose is to collect written information about the capabilities of various suppliers. Normally it follows a format that can be used for comparative purposes.
An RFI is primarily ...
,
request for permission (or leave) to withdraw or modify a motion,
request to read papers, and
request for any other privilege)
*
Motions that bring a question again before an assembly –
take from the table,
rescind/amend something previously adopted,
discharge a committee, and
reconsider
In parliamentary procedure, reconsideration of a motion (or reconsideration of a question) may be done on a matter previously decided. The motion to "reconsider" is used for this purpose. This motion originated in the United States and is generall ...
Details for each motion include its purpose, when it could be made, if it is debatable, if it is amendable, the vote required for adoption, and if it could be reconsidered. The "order of precedence", or rank, of the motions is also described in detail.
Various topics
The second half of the book covers various topics in detail. Brief summaries of these topics are as follows:
Depending on the situation, motions could be
renewed, or made again. On the other hand, members should not use legitimate motions for
dilatory
In parliamentary procedure, a motion is a formal proposal by a member of a deliberative assembly that the assembly take a particular action. These may include legislative motions, budgetary motions, supplementary budgetary motions, and petitionary ...
and improper purposes to waste time.
A
quorum
A quorum is the minimum number of members of a group necessary to constitute the group at a meeting. In a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature), a quorum is necessary to conduct the business of ...
, or minimum number of members, is required to be present at a meeting in order to validly conduct business. The business that is to come up in a meeting could be listed in an
order of business
An agenda is a list of meeting activities in the order in which they are to be taken up, beginning with the call to order and ending with adjournment. It usually includes one or more specific items of business to be acted upon. It may, but is not r ...
or an
agenda.
Each member could get a chance to speak through
assignment of the floor and
debate
Debate is a process that involves formal discourse, discussion, and oral addresses on a particular topic or collection of topics, often with a moderator and an audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for opposing viewpoints. Historica ...
. Debate may be limited in the number of speeches and time and should be respectful to others at all times. Voting takes place to decide the course of action and it could be done in a multitude of ways, such as
voice vote, standing vote, and ballot vote.
Officers in an organization could be elected through the process of
nomination
Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list.
Political office
In ...
s and
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...
s. Each organization decides for itself which officers to have, but the minimum officers in a deliberative assembly are a presiding officer (usually "
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
" or "
chairman
The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...
") and a
secretary
A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...
. The secretary keeps the
minutes
Minutes, also known as minutes of meeting, protocols or, informally, notes, are the instant written record of a meeting or hearing. They typically describe the events of the meeting and may include a list of attendees, a statement of the activit ...
, or the official records of the proceedings, for each meeting. As part of their duties, the officers may have reports to give, such as a financial report given by the
treasurer
A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization.
Government
The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...
. In addition, an organization may have a
board to handle business on behalf of the organization. Officers and boards only have such authority and powers that are given to them in the governing documents of the organization. There may also be
committee
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...
s that are formed to assist the organization. The boards and committees may have reports to give as well.
People may gather in
mass meeting
In parliamentary law, a mass meeting is a type of deliberative assembly or popular assembly, which in a publicized or selectively distributed notice known as the call of the meeting - has been announced: (RONR)
*as called to take appropriate act ...
s for a specific purpose or cause. One such purpose of the mass meetings could be for the intent of organizing a permanent society.
Each organization has its basic rules contained in its
bylaws. The bylaws could describe the name of the organization and its purpose, the requirements to be a member or an officer, how meetings are scheduled, if there are boards or committees (or both), its
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 ...
, and how to amend the bylaws.
Representatives from constituent groups may gather as delegates in
conventions to conduct business on behalf of the organization. Conventions may consist of several meetings and may last for several days or more on an annual basis or other such infrequent interval.
If members do not act according to the organization's rules, they could be subject to
disciplinary procedures
In a deliberative assembly, disciplinary procedures are used to punish members for violating the rules of the assembly.
Codes and rules
According to Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR), discipline could include censure, fine, suspension ...
. Such action could range from
censure
A censure is an expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism. In parliamentary procedure, it is a debatable main motion that could be adopted by a majority vote. Among the forms that it can take are a stern rebuke by a legislature, a sp ...
to the extreme of expulsion from the organization. Officers could be disciplined by removal from office.
Charts, tables, and lists
The tinted pages (pages marked by a gray band along the outer edge) in the rear of the book contain the following charts, tables, and lists: (1) "Chart for Determining When Each Subsidiary or Privileged Motion Is In Order", (2) "Table of Rules Relating to Motions", (3) "Sample Forms Used in Making Motions", (4) and (5) "Motions and Parliamentary Steps", (6) "Motions Which Require a Two-Thirds Vote", (7) "Motions Whose Reconsideration Is Prohibited Or Limited", and (8) "Table of Rules for Counting Election Ballots".
Additional information related to current edition
In addition to containing a summary of basic points from the current (12th) edition of ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'' (RONR), the following contents are unique to the current (3rd) edition of ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised In Brief'' (RONRIB): an example of an agenda, additional sample dialogues, frequently asked questions, an example of a call of a meeting, an example of a memorandum listing the
order of business
An agenda is a list of meeting activities in the order in which they are to be taken up, beginning with the call to order and ending with adjournment. It usually includes one or more specific items of business to be acted upon. It may, but is not r ...
, and the following tables: (A) "Handling Motions as chair", (B) "When Chair Stands and Sits", (C) "Conducting a Meeting as chair", (D) "Table of Rules Relating to Motions", and (E) "Words to Use as a Member".
The Robert's Rules Association has also made the Eleventh Edition available in CD-ROM format (designed for installation on Windows PCs) through American Legal Publishing. The CD contains the current editions of ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'' and ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised In Brief'' as well as a "Timekeeper's Guide", "
Teller's Report", "Sample Rules for Electronic Meetings", various forms, and resources for "Ballot Voting and Understanding
Secondary Amendments".
For the first time, an e-book version of the current Twelfth Edition was released by the Robert's Rules Association. Any copy of ''Robert's Rules of Order'' that is downloaded online is likely an older edition (1915 or earlier) that is available in the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
.
Translations of any edition of Robert's Rules of Order into other languages have not been published by the Robert's Rules Association. Any translated copy of Robert's Rules of Order done by a third party may not accurately reflect the correct meaning in the target language.
Changes between editions
The following table lists some of the changes that were made between the editions of Robert's Rules of Order. The numbered pages may not correspond to the total number of pages in the edition due to additional material in the
preface
__NOTOC__
A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literature, literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a ''foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface o ...
, introduction, and other miscellaneous pages that were not included in the numbering system.
Generally, a fuller list and more details of the changes are found in the preface of each edition. A detailed list of changes for the current (12th) edition is provided on the website maintained by the Robert's Rules Association. All the changes were a result of questions and comments received from users.
Rule explanations
Starting in the period between the Tenth Edition and the Eleventh Edition, the authors released official interpretations of rules in the book onto the website maintained by the Robert's Rules Association.
The interpretations from that period were later incorporated into the Eleventh Edition.
In addition, the authors addressed common misunderstandings of the rules coming from frequently asked questions.
Some of the misunderstandings involve: when the president can vote, whether
ex-officio members can vote, the definition of
majority
A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the "#Related terms, Related terms" section below.
It is a subset of a Set (mathematics), set consisting of more than half of the se ...
, how
abstention
Abstention is a term in election procedure for when a participant in a Voting, vote either does not go to vote (on election day) or, in parliamentary procedure, is present during the vote but does not cast a ballot. Abstention must be contrast ...
s affect the vote, a "
friendly amendment", "calling the question", "tabling" a motion, getting items on the agenda, and the contents of minutes. While these misunderstandings are of the rules in the current edition of ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the organization may be governed by other rules which supersede these "default" rules.
The official interpretations and addressed common misunderstandings were a result of questions posted in the Question & Answer Forum at The Robert's Rules Association website.
This forum is actively
moderated by members of the authorship team.
Law-making bodies
Generally, ''Robert's Rules of Order'' is designed for
ordinary societies. However, law-making bodies at the local level (such as a city council or a
county commission) function similarly to boards of societies. The book has found application to such bodies. Such bodies are also subject to
open meeting laws
Freedom of information laws allow access by the general public to data held by national governments and, where applicable, by state and local governments. The emergence of freedom of information legislation was a response to increasing dissatis ...
(Sunshine laws) and other applicable laws, all of which supersede any conflicting provisions in the book.
On the other hand, legislative bodies at the state or national level have their own well-defined set of rules (such as ''
Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure
''Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure'', referred to as ''Mason's Manual'', is the official parliamentary authority of most state legislatures in the United States. The Manual covers motions, procedures, vote requirements, the rules of or ...
''). However, a survey found that four state legislative chambers in the United States still use ''Robert's Rules of Order''.
Corporations
''Robert's Rules of Order'' is based on each member of a group having equal weight as expressed by vote. This book has found application in the corporate world, such as in
shareholder
A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of corporate stock refers to an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the ...
meetings and in board of director meetings. However, the rules have to be modified to account for when some individuals within the group have more power than others.
Parliamentarians
A
parliamentarian is an expert on
parliamentary procedure
Parliamentary procedures are the accepted Procedural law, rules, ethics, and Norm (sociology), customs governing meetings of an deliberative assembly, assembly or organization. Their object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of inte ...
. To be effective consultants for the organizations they work for, parliamentarians are expected to be knowledgeable on ''Robert's Rules of Order''.
The
National Association of Parliamentarians
The National Association of Parliamentarians (NAP) is an organization with membership predominantly in the United States that says that it provides services and products to help its members and others to learn how to proceed with and manage meet ...
(NAP) is the largest non-profit association of parliamentarians in the world. This organization bases its opinions and instruction upon ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'' (12th ed.). Membership in this organization requires passing an exam which is based on the first half of the concise guide, ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised In Brief'' (3rd ed.).
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 ...
is another non-profit association of parliamentarians. This organization stresses proficiency and familiarity with a variety of
parliamentary authorities, although it states on its website that "''Robert's Rules of Order'' is the most frequently used parliamentary authority". The website also states that it "is the premier manual on parliamentary authority" and "a 'must-have' text for every parliamentarian".
Youth organizations
Youth organizations, such as
Business Professionals of America (BPA),
Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA),
Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda (FBLA-PBL),
HOSA-Future Health Professionals, the
National FFA Organization,
SkillsUSA
SkillsUSA is a United States career and technical student organization serving more than 395,000 high school, college and middle school students and professional members enrolled in training programs in trade, technical and skilled service oc ...
, and the
Technology Student Association
The Technology Student Association (TSA) is a national non-profit Career and technical student organization, career and technical student organization (CTSO) of over 300,000 middle and high school student members engaged in Science, technology, e ...
(TSA), sponsor parliamentary procedure competitions (such as
Parli Pro) as part of their programs for their student members. These competitions are based on ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised''. The
National Association of Parliamentarians
The National Association of Parliamentarians (NAP) is an organization with membership predominantly in the United States that says that it provides services and products to help its members and others to learn how to proceed with and manage meet ...
have partnered with some of these organizations.
''Robert's Rules of Order'' are used in
Congressional Debate
Congressional Debate (also known as Student Congress, Legislative Debate) is a competitive interscholastic high school debate event in the United States. The National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA), National Catholic Forensic League (NCFL) ...
(also referred to as
Student Congress), an event put on by the
National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA).
''Robert's Rules of Order'' is also used during
American Legion
The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...
and
American Legion Auxiliary Boys/Girls State programs and in
Model United Nations
Model United Nations, also known as Model UN (MUN), is an educational simulation of the United Nations, which teaches students about diplomacy, international relations, global issues, and how the United Nations is run. During a model UN confe ...
conferences. While the chair of each committee in a Model United Nations conference may sometimes deviate from the written rules for educational purposes, the format of the rules in the specific committees is mostly based on ''Robert's Rules of Order''. Another program in which ''Robert's Rules of Order'' may be used is
Model Congress, although the rules in these programs may more closely resemble those in the legislative assemblies that the programs simulate.
''Robert's Rules of Order'' are also used during
National Association of College and University Residence Halls (NACURH) Residence Hall Association meetings, regional conferences, and national conferences.
Alternative rules for organizations
Other parliamentary authorities
Parliamentarians have estimated that about 85 to 95 percent of organizations in the United States use ''Robert's Rules of Order''.
The remaining percentage of organizations use other books on meeting procedures. Notable examples of such books on
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 ...
include ''
Demeter's Manual of Parliamentary Law and Procedure
125px, Demeter's Manual
''Demeter's Manual of Parliamentary Law and Procedure'' is a parliamentary authority manual by George Demeter. It is included in the bank of study materials used in preparing for the Certified Parliamentarian (CP) desig ...
'', and ''
Riddick's Rules of Procedure''.
These books along with ''Robert's Rules of Order'' share the general idea of rule of the majority with respect for the minority. A difference may be a "simplification" of the rules. Less popular choices include Atwood's ''Rules for Meetings'' and ''Democratic Rules of Order''.
Consensus decision-making
In modern parliamentary procedure, the usual practice is having a proposal first, then discussion on this proposal with any modifications to it, and finally a vote on it, with majority vote deciding the issue if there are any disagreements. An alternative to this process is
consensus decision-making
Consensus decision-making is a group decision-making process in which participants work together to develop proposals for actions that achieve a broad acceptance. #Origin and meaning of term, Consensus is reached when everyone in the group '' ...
. In this alternative, discussion of potential proposals is held first, followed by the framing of a proposal, and then modifying it until the group reaches a consensus, when there is no longer any disagreement.
As a response to this alternative, the authors of ''Robert's Rules of Order'' stated their belief in using debate and majority vote as part of the process in making decisions for the group.
[: "Robert saw, on the other hand, that the evolution of majority vote in tandem with lucid and clarifying debate—resulting in a decision representing the view of the deliberate majority—far more clearly ferrets out and demonstrates the will of an assembly."]
See also
*
Parliamentary procedure
Parliamentary procedures are the accepted Procedural law, rules, ethics, and Norm (sociology), customs governing meetings of an deliberative assembly, assembly or organization. Their object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of inte ...
*
Morin code
References
Citations
Primary sources
*
*
External links
The Robert's Rules Association (robertsrules.com)– Site maintained by the Robert's Rules Association
* Sites providing full text of older editions (from public domain) – The following sites are not maintained by the Robert's Rules Association and have no relation to the Robert's Rules Association:
*
Full text of 1915 (4th) ed. (ROR) – This site is not related to the official site despite a similar domain name.
*
rulesonline.com– Full text of 1915 (4th) ed. (ROR)
*
Project Gutenberg– Full text of 1876 (1st) ed. (original edition)
** – 1876 (1st) ed. (original edition)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robert's Rules Of Order
Meetings
Group processes
Group decision-making
Parliamentary procedure
Parliamentary authority
1876 non-fiction books