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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. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate all have "floors" with established procedures and protocols. Activity on the floor of a council or legislature, such as debate, may be contrasted with meetings and discussion which takes place in committee, for which there are often separate committee rooms. Some actions, such as the overturning of an executive veto, may only be taken on the floor. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom's House of Commons a rectangular configuration is used with the government ministers and their party sitting on the right of the presiding Speaker and the opposing parties sitting on the benches opposite. Members are not permitted to speak between the red lines on the floor which mark the boundaries of each side ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legislature
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 of government. Legislatures can exist at different levels of government–national, state/provincial/regional, local, even supranational (such as the European Parliament). Countries differ as to what extent they grant deliberative assemblies at the subnational law-making power, as opposed to purely administrative responsibilities. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as primary legislation. In addition, legislatures may observe and steer governing actions, with authority to amend the budget involved. The members of a legislature are called legislators. In a democracy, legislators are most commonly popularly elected, although indirect election and appointment by the executive are also used, particularly for bicameral legis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parliamentary Practice
Parliamentary procedures are the accepted rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings of an assembly or organization. Their object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of interest to the organization and thus to arrive at the sense or the will of the majority of the assembly upon these questions. Self-governing organizations follow parliamentary procedure to debate and reach group decisions, usually by vote, with the least possible friction. In the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and other English-speaking countries, parliamentary procedure is often called ''chairmanship'', ''chairing'', the ''law of meetings'', ''procedure at meetings'', the ''conduct of meetings'', or the ''standing orders''. Erskine May's ''Parliamentary Practice'' is used and often referred to as "Erskine May" in the United Kingdom, and influential in other countries that use the Westminster system. In the United States, terms used are ''parliamentary law' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Recognition (parliamentary Procedure)
In United States parliamentary procedure, recognition, or assignment of the floor, is the exclusive right to be heard at that time by a member of a deliberative assembly. With a few exceptions, a member must be recognized by the chairperson before engaging in Debate (parliamentary procedure), debate or making a Motion (parliamentary procedure), motion. 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 report, the member who presented the report to the assembly is entitled to preference in recognition. * If a motion is taken from the Table (parliamentary procedure), table, the member who moved to take it from the table is entitled to preference in recognition. * If a motion is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plenary Session
A plenary session or plenum is a session of a conference or deliberative assembly in which all parties or members are present. Such a session may include a broad range of content, from keynotes to panel discussions, and is not necessarily related to a specific style of presentation or deliberation. The term comes from the Latin word 'plenus' meaning 'gathered', and has come to be used in academic settings, such as conferences, just before, or after, breaking into smaller groups. This can be a time for summarising information, and may encourage class participation or networking. A plenary 'sitting' may refer to legislative gatherings, such as those held by the European Parliament. In these sessions, if it is not fully attended by members, it must at least achieve a quorum. Likewise, in the General Assembly of the United Nations, a Plenary Meeting requires minimum number of members to continue its procedures; and the same may apply to other groups depending on their char ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Floor Leader
A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are their party's most senior member of parliament (MP) in most parliamentary democracies. A party leader may be the same person as the parliamentary leader, or the roles may be separated. Terminology In many countries, the position of leader of a political party (that is, the organisational leader) and leader of a parliamentary group are separate positions, and while they are often held by the same person, this is not always or automatically the case. If the party leader is a member of the government, holds a different political office outside the parliamentary body in question, or no political office at all, the position of parliamentary leader is frequently held by a different person. In English, the leader may be referred to as a "parliam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Procedures Of The United States House Of Representatives
The United States Constitution provides that each "House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings," therefore each Congress of the United States, upon convening, approves its own governing rules of procedure. This clause has been interpreted by the courts to mean that a new Congress is not bound by the rules of proceedings of the previous Congress. Currently the procedures of the United States House of Representatives are governed by the Constitution, the House Rules, and Jefferson's ''Manual''. Rules of the House Prior to the adoption of the rules by the United States House of Representatives, the House operates under general parliamentary rules and Jefferson's ''Manual'' but these are not binding on the current House until they are approved by the membership of the current Congress. Historically, the current Congress will adopt the rules of the previous Congress and make any amendments they think are necessary to govern themselves. The Rules of the House of Representati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Voluntary Association
A voluntary group or union (also sometimes called a voluntary organization, common-interest association, association, or society) is a group of individuals who enter into an agreement, usually as volunteers, to form a body (or organization) to accomplish a purpose. Common examples include trade associations, trade unions, learned societies, professional associations, and environmental groups. All such associations reflect freedom of association in ultimate terms (members may choose whether to join or leave), although membership is not necessarily voluntary in the sense that one's employment may effectively require it via occupational closure. For example, in order for particular associations to function effectively, they might need to be mandatory or at least strongly encouraged, as is true of trade unions. Because of this, some people prefer the term common-interest association to describe groups which form out of a common interest, although this term is not widely used or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 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 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 to suit the needs of non-legislative societies. ''Robert's Rules'' is the most widely used manual of parliamentary procedure in the United States. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Politician, statesman, journalist, writer, literary critic, philosopher, and parliamentary orator who is regarded as the founder of the Social philosophy, soc ... described the British Parliament as a "deliberative assembly", and the expression became the basic term for a body of persons meeting to discuss and determine common action. Merriam-Webster's definition excludes legislatures. Characteristics '' Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'' by Henry Martyn Robert describes the following characteristics of a deliberative assembly: * A group of people meets to discuss and make decisions on behalf of the entire membership. * They meet in a single room or area, or under equivalent conditions of simultaneous oral communication. * Each member ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jefferson's Manual
''A Manual of Parliamentary Practice for the Use of the Senate of the United States'', written by Thomas Jefferson in 1801, is the first American book on parliamentary procedure. As Vice President of the United States, Jefferson served as the Senate's presiding officer from 1797 to 1801. Throughout these four years, Jefferson worked on various texts and, in early 1800, started to assemble them into a single manuscript for the Senate's use. In December 1800 he delivered his manuscript to printer Samuel Harrison Smith, who delivered the final product to Jefferson on February 27, 1801. Later, the House of Representatives also adopted the ''Manual'' for use in its chamber. Jefferson's ''Manual'' was based on notes Jefferson took while studying parliamentary procedure at the College of William and Mary. A second edition with added material by Jefferson was printed in 1812. The ''Manual'' is arranged in fifty-three categories from (1) The Importance of Adhering to Rules to (53) Impeac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amend (motion)
In parliamentary procedure, the motion to amend is used to modify another motion. An amendment could itself be amended. A related procedure is filling blanks in a motion. Explanation and use Using 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 (RONR), all main motions can be amended, by so called "first-order" amendments. A first-order amendment can be amended, by "second-order" amendments. However, the limit is that a second-order amendment may not be amended, because it would be too complicated. Secondary motions that, by their nature, include a variable element, also may be amended. For example, the motion to postpone may be amended as to the length of the postponement; the motion to limit or extend limits of debate may be amended a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legislative Chamber
A legislative chamber or house is a deliberative assembly within a legislature which generally meets and votes separately from the legislature's other chambers. Legislatures are usually unicameral, consisting of only one chamber, or bicameral, consisting of two, but there are rare examples of tricameral and tetracameral legislatures. The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is the only country documented as having a pentacameral (later hexacameral) legislature. Bicameralism In a ''bicameral'' legislature, the two bodies are often referred to as an ''upper'' and a ''lower'' house, where the latter is often regarded as more particularly the representatives of the people. The lower house is almost always the originator of legislation, and the upper house is the body that offers the "second look" and decides whether to veto or approve the bills. In the United Kingdom legislation can be originated in either house, but the lower house can ultimately prevail if the t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
