Robert's Rules of Order

History edit

Robert's Rules of Order (RRO) is a fascinating 19th century document that has been revised eleven times. Some argue that it represents a tradition that harks back to the 5th century, but the modern form of parliamentary democracy seems to date back to 16th & 17th century England.[1][2] In the 1560s Sir Thomas Smith began the process of writing down accepted procedures and published a book about them in the House of Commons in 1583. Early rules included

  • One subject should be discussed at a time (adopted 1581)
  • Personal attacks are to be avoided in debate (1604)
  • Debate must be limited to the merits of the question (1610)
  • Division of a question when some seem to be for one part but not the other (1640)

Robert's rules in a nutshell edit

There are at least three good summaries of RRO that capture its spirit in a few words.

In three to five statements edit

  1. One speaker at a time
  2. One topic at a time[3]
  3. Majority rules[4]
  4. A 2/3 majority may temporarily suspend all or some of Robert's Rules.[5]
  5. The unqualified motion to adjourn is undebatable and carries by a simple majority.[6]

Wikipedia edit

Robert's Rules of Order#General_summary_of_current_edition

Survival Tips edit

This subpage is dedicated to the Survival Tips website assembled by Lorenzo R. Cuesta (Registered Parliamentarian).

Organizations that use RRO edit

Online versions of RRO edit

These sites link to the 1914 (4th edition) of Robert's rules.[7]

Other links edit

Footnotes and references edit

  1. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_parliamentary_procedure&oldid=479926060
  2. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Parliamentary_procedure&oldid=681185194#History
  3. The first two can be found at http://www.sd62.bc.ca/portals/0/pdfs/speac/roberts_rules_of_order.pdf
  4. http://www.cde.state.co.us/sites/default/files/documents/cdechart/guidebook/gov/pdf/robertsrulesoforder.pdf
  5. Added to the first 3 by User:Guy vandegrift
  6. Added to RRO in a nutshell by user:Guy vandegrift
  7. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert%27s_Rules_of_Order&oldid=683748151