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 ...

is the body of rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings and other operations of clubs, organizations, legislative bodies, and other deliberative assemblies. General principles of parliamentary procedure include rule 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-Webster

Principles

Majority rule

The basic principle of decision is

majority vote 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-Webster

Minority rights

The minority have certain rights that only a supermajority, such as a two-thirds vote, can rule over. Such rights include introducing new business and speaking in debate.

Member rights

Members have the right to attend

meetings A meeting is when two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal or business setting, but meetings also occur in a variety of other environments. Meetings can be used as form of group decision making. Defin ...

, speak in debate, make (and second) motions, and vote. A member cannot be individually deprived of these rights except through

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, suspensi ...

. Members have the right to know what they are deciding on. The assembly acts on fairness and good faith. All members are treated equally. Members are expected to be of honorable character.

One question at a time

Only one Main

motion In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and m ...

can be pending at a time. According to ''

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'' (RONR), this rule is considered to be a "fundamental principle of parliamentary law".

One person, one vote

Each member has a vote and each vote is weighted equally. According to RONR, this rule is considered to be a "fundamental principle of parliamentary law". Exceptions to this rule, such as cumulative voting, must be expressly provided for in the organization's rules.

Only members present can vote

The decisions made by members present at a meeting are the official acts in the name of the organization. According to RONR, this rule is considered to be a "fundamental principle of parliamentary law". Exceptions for absentee voting would have to be expressly provided for in the organization's rules. Nonmembers are not allowed to vote.

Changing action previously decided on

Under RONR, the requirements for changing a previous action are greater than those for taking the action in the first place. A motion to rescind, repeal or annul or amend something already (previously) adopted, for instance, requires a two-thirds vote, a majority with

previous notice In parliamentary procedure, a motion is a formal proposal by a member of a deliberative assembly that the assembly take certain action. Such motions, and the form they take are specified by the deliberate assembly and/or a pre-agreed volume detaili ...

, or a

majority of the entire membership A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...

. However, under

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 ...

, a repeal or amendment of something already adopted requires only the same vote (usually a majority) and notice that was needed to adopt it in the first place.

Following own specific rules

The group must have the authority to take the actions it purports to take. To be valid, any action or decision of a body must not violate any applicable law or constitutional provision. Also, actions cannot be in conflict with a decision previously made unless that action is rescinded or amended. The body can change the rules it wants to follow as long as it follows the rules for making such changes.

Absentee members rights

Certain actions require

, which protects the rights of absentees. This includes notice of the meetings. There also needs to be a

quorum A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to '' Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...

, or the minimum number of members to be present at a meeting.

Nonmembers rights

Under RONR nonmembers have none of these rights and the assembly can exclude any or all of them from the proceedings.

References

{{Parliamentary Procedure Parliamentary procedure