In United States
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 ...
, recognition, or assignment of the floor, is the exclusive right to be heard at that time by a member of 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 ...
. With a few exceptions, a member must be recognized by the
chairperson
The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...
before engaging in
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 ...
or making 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 ...
.
Rules
The general rule is that the first member to rise and address the chair after another member has yielded the floor (by sitting down) is entitled to the floor.
Exceptions to this general rule include the following:
* The maker of a motion is entitled to speak first in debate on it.
* If a motion is made to implement a recommendation in a
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 ...
report, the member who presented the report to the assembly is entitled to preference in recognition.
* If a motion is taken from the
table
Table may refer to:
* Table (database), how the table data arrangement is used within the databases
* Table (furniture), a piece of furniture with a flat surface and one or more legs
* Table (information), a data arrangement with rows and column ...
, the member who moved to take it from the table is entitled to preference in recognition.
* If a motion is
reconsidered, the member who made the motion to reconsider is entitled to preference in recognition.
* If a member has already spoken on the pending motion, he may not speak again on it on the same day as long as any other member who has not spoken on the motion claims the floor.
* If the chair knows that persons seeking the floor have opposite opinions on the pending motion, the chair is to let the floor alternate between the opposing sides. This is sometimes accomplished by designating different microphones for those favoring and opposing a measure or having members hold up cards indicating their position.
* If the floor has been assigned but the member has not yet begun to speak, another member may interrupt to give
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 ...
of another motion.
If the chair made a mistake in assigning the floor, a
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 ...
may be raised.
Once a member has the floor, that member should not be interrupted unless a rule is being broken or the urgency of the situation justifies the interruption (such as a member raising a point of order).
See also
*
Floor (legislative) The floor of a legislature or chamber is the place where members sit and make speeches. When a person is speaking there formally, they are said to ''have the floor''. The House of Commons and the House of Lords of the United Kingdom; the U.S. Hou ...
References
{{Parliamentary Procedure
Parliamentary procedure