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'Rules of order', also known as 'standing orders' or 'rules of procedure', are the written rules of parliamentary procedure adopted by a deliberative assembly, which detail the processes used by the body to make decisions. Some bodies rely more on precedent and on the judgment of the presiding officer, whereas others rely more heavily on the written rules.
Rules of order consist of rules written by the body itself, but also usually supplemented by a published parliamentary authority adopted by the body. Typically, national, state, and other full-scale legislative assemblies have extensive internally written rules of order, whereas non-legislative bodies write and adopt a limited set of specific rules as the need arises.
In the English speaking world, the British House of Commons is the orginating source for most rules of order. These rules have evolved into two separate sets: American parliamentary procedure as generally followed in the United States and Canada; and Westminster parliamentary procedure, followed in United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa, and many other former Commonwealth countries.
In the United States, most state legislatures follow ''Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure''. The United States Senate follows the Standing Rules of the United States Senate. Most other deliberative assemblies follow ''Robert's Rules of Order''. US organizations dedicated to promoting the general use of parliamentary procedure include the National Association of Parliamentarians and the American Institute of Parliamentarians.
In the United Kingdom, Thomas Erskine May's ''A Practical Treatise on the Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Parliament'' (often referred to simply as ''Erskine May'') is the accepted authority on the powers and procedures of the Westminster parliament.
In Quebec, commonly used rules of order for ordinary societies include Victor Morin's ''Procédures des assemblées délibérantes'' (commonly known as the ''Code Morin''[1]) and the ''Code CSN''.
In other countries the Rules of order usually followed are quite different.

Contents

Common Parliamentary Authorities

See also

External links

Common Parliamentary Authorities

★ Australian

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★ ''Australian House of Representatives Practice''

★ Canada

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★ ''Bourinot's Rules of Order'' by Sir John George Bourinot (the basis of the Parliament of Canada's Rules of Order)

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★ ''Procédure des assemblées délibérantes'' by Victor Morin (a.k.a. ''Code Morin'')

★ UK

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★ ''A Practical Treatise on the Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Parliament'' (a.k.a. ''Erskine May'') by Thomas Erskine May

★ USA

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★ ''Jefferson's Manual of Parliamentary Practice'' by Thomas Jefferson

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★ ''Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure'', 2000, by National Conference of State Legislatures, ISBN 1580241166

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★ earlier editions by Paul Mason

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★ ''Robert's Rules of Order'' by Henry M. Robert, ISBN 0515017019

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★ ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', 10th, 2000, ISBN 0738209236

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★ ''The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure'', 4th, 2000, by American Institute of Parliamentarians

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★ earlier editions by Alice F. Sturgis

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★ ''Cannon's Concise Guide to Rules of Order'' by Hugh Cannon

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★ ''Demeter's Manual of Parliamentary Law and Procedure'', 1969, by George Demeter

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★ '' by Robert McConnell Productions

See also

★ Special rules of order

★ Parliamentary authority

External links

★ Using Mason's Manual — National Conference of State Legislatures (ncsl.org)

★ National Association of Parliamentarians (parliamentarians.org)

★ American Institute of Parliamentarians (parliamentaryprocedure.org)

★ Robert McConnell Productions (parli.com)

★ Canadian Political Science Student Association

★ Parliamentary Procedure Online! (parlipro.org)

★ Robert's Rules Online! (rulesonline.com)