Parliamentary Procedure

Parliamentary procedure is the body of rules, ethics and customs governing meetings and other operations of clubs, organizations, legislative bodies and other deliberative assemblies. In the United States, Robert's Rules of Order is the most commonly-used manual of parliamentary procedure.

The first version of Robert's Rules of Order was published in 1876 by General Henry Martyn Robert who adapted the rules of the United States House of Representatives for use in non-legislative assemblies after leading a meeting of his local church. Without defined rules of procedure, General Robert was unable to effectively preside over the meeting which devolved into chaos. Since then, the manual has been revised many times with the current 11th edition having been published in 2011.

ASUAF employs modified parliamentary procedure as described in the ASUAF Rules of Procedure to maintain order and ensure that Senate and committee meetings run smoothly and fairly. While the Rules Committee chair serves as ASUAF's official parliamentary authority (or parliamentarian), it is important for all officials to have a working knowledge of parliamentary procedure.

Here, we'll cover the basics of some major parts of parliamentary procedure: motions, voting, discussion, and executive session. Please remember, the Rules of Procedure should be your first resource when conducting ASUAF business; however, when the Rules of Procedure do not answer a parliamentary question, ASUAF defers to Robert's Rules of Order.

Motions

ASUAF conducts business through motions. In order to discuss a point of business such as legislation, a resolution or an appointment, a member must make a motion regarding that business. Motions provide focused discussion around a point of business. Once a Senator has made a motion and that motion has been seconded, the chair will open the floor for discussion. Watch the video below for some basics on making motions. More in-depth information about making motions and amending motions can be found in this video.

Debate

After a motion has been made and seconded and the senate chair has opened the floor for discussion, debate begins. Debate is the discussion about the merit of a motion; whether the motion should be adopted or rejected. Debate should always be focused on the merit of the motion, not about other members, and should never involve personal attacks.

It's important to remember that debate is limited by the Rules of Procedure:

  • No person may debate more than three times on the same question or motion.

  • No person may debate for more than five minutes at a time.

The Senate Chair and/or Senate Clerk will keep track of member's speaking times. Thus, it is important to use your debate time wisely.

Here are a few tips on debating effectively, taken from this video:

  • Restate the motion. This helps keep the discussion focused.

  • Give your opinion. Be as clear and concise as possible and try to condense your opinion into three main points.

  • Tell people how you want them to vote. Be specific.

  • Listen. There's nothing worse than a meeting in which people are speaking just to hear themselves talk and repeating points already made by previous speakers.

Additionally, Wikipedia has a well-written article about debate.

Voting

As an elected representative, your power to vote on motions is one of your greatest responsibilities. Once debate on a motion has ended and the question has been called, votes will be cast. You have three options when casting your vote:

  1. Yes/Yay: A yes or yay vote means you are in support of the motion.

  2. No/Nay: A no or nay vote means you do not support the motion.

  3. Abstain: A vote to abstain should only be used in limited circumstances:

    • You do not have enough information to feel confident in your vote. Debate should be used carefully and intentionally to provide senators with enough information to cast a vote.

    • Voting on the motion would constitute a conflict of interest. Robert's Rules of Order has a narrow definition of conflict of interest:

No member should vote on a question in which he has a direct personal or pecuniary interest not common to other members of the organization. For example, if a motion proposes that the organization enter into a contract with a commercial firm of which a member of the organization is an officer and from which contract he would derive personal pecuniary profit, the members should abstain from voting on the motion. However, no member can be compelled to refrain from voting in such circumstances.

The rule of abstaining from voting on a question of direct personal interest does not mean that a member should not vote for himself for an office or other position to which members generally are eligible, or should not vote when other members are included with him in a motion. If a member never voted on a question affecting himself, it would be impossible for a society to vote to hold a banquet, or for the majority to prevent a small minority from preferring charges against them and suspending or expelling them.

Points of Order and Parliamentary Inquiry

A point of order is a mechanism that provides ASUAF officials an opportunity to interrupt discussion to question whether the meeting's actions are following ASUAF's bylaws and rules of procedure. Watch this video to learn more about this important mechanism for maintaining integrity. A related tool is the point of parliamentary inquiry which a member can use when they're lost in the discussion to determine what motion is being discussed or voted upon.

Executive Session

Executive session is a tool that should be used sparingly and only when necessary to discuss a matter that has the potential to negatively impact an individual's reputation or which would have a negative impact on the reputation of ASUAF as a whole. No motions can be made in executive session and typically, only voting members of ASUAF are allowed to stay in the room when the Senate goes into executive session.

Point of Information or Request for Information?

The most recent version of Robert's Rules of Order replaces the point of information with the request for information. Many organizations abuse and misuse the point of information to inappropriately insert information into discussion or debate. If a member has a question about the motion being discussed or about information needed to inform the member's vote on the motion, they may make a request for information. For example, a member may make a request for information to inquire how much money is budgeted for a project or to ask where an event will be held.

This video on parliamentary inquiry (also linked above) clarifies how the request for information is used.

Please note that the Rules of Procedure maintain the use of the point of information but the point of information should always be formed as a question used to request information, not as a statement used to insert information.

Robert's Rules Cheat Sheet

Download this Robert's Rules of Order cheat sheet (also shown below) for quick reference during meetings.



RobertsRulesCheatSheet.pdf