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 ...

, 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 ...

who advises organizations and deliberative assemblies. This sense of the term "parliamentarian" is distinct from the usage in parliamentary republics and monarchies as a synonym for member of parliament (a

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

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 Edmund Burke (; 12 January ew Style, NS1729 – 9 July 1797) was an Anglo-Irish Po ...

that they serve, as in the case of the Parliamentarian of the United States Senate. 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 (1837–1923). "The object of Rules of Order is to assist an assembly to accomplish the ...

'' ''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 strive to maintain impartiality, similar to the impartiality that is required of the chairman. In other words, the parliamentarian should ordinarily 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) 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 ...

) 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