How Parliamentary Procedure Relates to Democracy
by Paul McClintock, PRP
Parliamentary procedure gets its name from the British Parliament, although elements of the parliamentary practice and democracy can be traced back to much earlier. Homer’s Iliad recounts a meeting of generals in council making a decision, and assembling the troops to ratify the decision; the war took place about 1250 BC[1]. The Greeks had some degree of democracy at various times and places, but generally “the people” with voting rights would be only about one-tenth of the men of the society, and might only vote to elect senators or to ratify laws without debate[2]. The Magna Carta (1215) required the consent of the council for new taxes, and this document led eventually to the first British Parliament in the late 1200’s[3]. The introduction to Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR), 10th edition, p. xxix, gives “examples [that] illustrate the gradual evolution of parliamentary law and are readily recognized as early wordings of present-day principles and rules:
• One subject at a time: 1581.
• Alternation between opposite points of view in assignment of the floor: 1592.
• Requirement that the chair always call for the negative vote: 1604.
• Decorum and avoidance of personalities in debate: 1604.
• Confinement of debate to the merits of the pending question: 1610.
• Division of a question: 1640.
The American colonies adapted British practice to American needs, with Jefferson’s Manual being the first American text on parliamentary procedure. These practices of legislative bodies eventually became codified for non-legislative deliberative assemblies in various parliamentary authorities, with RONR now the most widely recognized and used.
In its purest form, a “democracy” is the rule of the people. The U.S. Constitution begins, “We the people,” as also does the state constitution of Washington. But the voters of the USA don’t legislate; they elect legislators. Thus the USA is really a Republic rather than a Democracy.
We see this same type of indirect democracy in many community associations and corporations, where the members can elect the board, but the board governs.
Principles of parliamentary procedure that are fundamental to democracy include:
• All members have equal rights, privileges, and obligations.
• The majority must be allowed to rule.
• The minority have rights that must be protected.
• Members have a right to information to help make decisions.
• Freedom of speech must be assured in full and free debate.
• Meetings should be orderly, deliberative, and devoted to business.
• Only one question can be considered at a time.[4]
“In the words of the Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, ‘Procedure is more than formality. Procedure is, indeed, the great mainstay of substantive rights…Without procedural safeguards, liberty would rest on precarious grounds.’ As parliamentarians, it must be our task to insure that the safeguards provided by parliamentary procedure are understood, maintained and rigidly enforced.”[5]
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[1] A History of Parliamentary Procedure, 4th edition, Darwin Patnode, 2006, Infinity Publishing, p. 1-2.
[2] Universal History, vol. 1, Ancient History: Law without Liberty, Katherine Dang, 2000, Krehbiel, Cincinnati, pp. 773, 790.
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament
[4] “Teaching Principles,” M. Eugene Bierbaum, Parliamentary Journal, April 2006, p. 44.
[5] “The First Three Words,” H. W. Farwell, Readings in Parliamentary Law, 1992, American Institute of Parliamentarians, p. 16.