The Deliberative Assembly PDF

CHAPTER I THE DELIBERATIVE ASSEMBLY: ITS TYPES AND THEIR RULES §1. THE DELIBERATIVE ASSEMBLY Nature of the Deliberative Assembly 1:1 A deliberative assembly—the kind of gathering to which parliamentary law is generally understood to apply—has the...

CHAPTER I THE DELIBERATIVE ASSEMBLY: ITS TYPES AND THEIR RULES §1. THE DELIBERATIVE ASSEMBLY Nature of the Deliberative Assembly 1:1 A deliberative assembly—the kind of gathering to which parliamentary law is generally understood to apply—has the following distinguishing characteristics: It is a group of people, having or assuming freedom to act in concert, meeting to determine, in full and free discussion, courses of action to be taken in the name of the entire group. The group meets in a single room or area or under equivalent conditions of opportunity for simultaneous aural communication among all participants.1 Persons having the right to participate—that is, the members —are ordinarily free to act within the assembly according to their own judgment. In any decision made, the opinion of each member present has equal weight as expressed by vote—through which the voting member joins in assuming direct personal  responsibility for the decision, should his or her vote be on the prevailing side. Failure to concur in a decision of the body does not constitute withdrawal from the body. If any members are absent—as is usually the case in any formally organized assembly such as a legislative body or the assembly of an ordinary society—the members present at a regular or properly called meeting act for the entire membership, subject only to such limitations as may be established by the body’s governing rules (see Quorum of Members, however, 3:3–5; also 40). 1:2 The rules in this book are principally applicable to meeting bodies possessing all of the foregoing characteristics. Certain of these parliamentary rules or customs may sometimes also find application in other gatherings which, although resembling the deliberative assembly in varying degrees, do not have all of its attributes as listed above. 1:3 The distinction should be noted between the assembly (that is, the body of people who assemble) and the meeting (which is the event of their being assembled to transact business). The relation between these terms, however, is such that their application may coincide; a “mass meeting,” for example, is described below as one type of assembly. The term meeting is also distinguished from session, according to definitions stated in 8. A session may be loosely described as a single complete course of an assembly’s engagement in the conduct of business, and may consist of one or more meetings. 1:4 A member of an assembly, in the parliamentary sense, as mentioned above, is a person entitled to full participation in its proceedings, that is, as explained in 3 and 4, the right to attend meetings, to make motions, to speak in debate, and to vote. No member can be individually deprived of these basic rights of membership—or of any basic rights concomitant to them, such  as the right to make nominations or to give previous notice of a motion—except through disciplinary proceedings. Some organized societies define additional classes of “membership” that do not entail all of these rights. Whenever the term member is used in this book, it refers to full participating membership in the assembly unless otherwise specified. Such members are also described as “voting members” when it is necessary to make a distinction. 1:5 A deliberative assembly that has not adopted any rules is commonly understood to hold itself bound by the rules and customs of the general parliamentary law—or common parliamentary law (as discussed in the Introduction)—to the extent that there is agreement in the meeting body as to what these rules and practices are. Most assemblies operate subject to one or more classes of written rules, however, that the particular body—or, sometimes, a higher authority under which it is constituted—has formally adopted. Taken as a whole, such rules may relate to the establishment of the organization or society of which the assembly is the meeting body, they may interpret or supplement the general parliamentary law, or they may involve provisions not directly related to the transaction of business. The classes of rules that an assembly or an organization may adopt and the position that the rules in this book assume within such a body’s overall system of rules are initially explained in 2. Aside from rules of parliamentary procedure and the particular rules of an assembly, the actions of any deliberative body are also subject to applicable procedural rules prescribed by local, state, or national law and would be null and void if in violation of such law.2 1:6 The basic principle of decision in a deliberative assembly is that, to become the act or choice of the body, a proposition must be adopted by a majority vote; that is, direct approval— implying assumption of responsibility for the act—must be  registered by more than half of the members present and voting on the particular matter, in a regular or properly called meeting of the body (see also 44:1–2). Modifications of the foregoing principle that impose a requirement of more than a majority vote arise: (a) where required by law; (b) where provided by special rule of a particular organization or assembly as dictated by its own conditions; or (c) where required under the general parliamentary law in the case of certain steps or procedures that impinge on the normal rights of the minority, of absentees, or of some other group within the assembly’s membership. 1:7 When a decision is to be based on more than a majority, the requirement most commonly specified is a two-thirds vote— that is, the expressed approval of at least two thirds of those present and voting. Under certain circumstances, whatever the vote required, there may be an additional requirement of previous notice, which means that notice of the proposal to be brought up—at least briefly describing its substance—must be announced at the preceding meeting or must be included in the “call” of the meeting at which it is to be considered (see also 10:44–51). The call of a meeting is a written notice of its time and place that is sent to all members of the organization a reasonable time in advance. Other bases for decision which find use in certain cases are defined in 44, such as a majority of the entire membership—that is, more than half of all the members. 1:8 Whenever the rules of an assembly require a majority vote, a two-thirds vote, or any other basis for decision, it must be understood that, unless otherwise specified in the rules (as in the case of certain procedural actions), such a vote is effective only if taken when the necessary minimum number of members, known as a quorum, is present (see 3:3–5; also 40). Types of Deliberative Assembly 1:9 The deliberative assembly may exist in many forms. Among the principal types that it is convenient to distinguish for the purposes of parliamentary law are: (1) the mass meeting; (2) the assembly of an organized society, particularly when meeting at the local or lowest subdivisional level; (3) the convention; (4) the legislative body; and (5) the board. A brief introductory explanation of the five principal types of deliberative assembly is given below. 1:10 The Mass Meeting. The mass meeting is the simplest form of assembly in principle, although not the one most frequently encountered. A mass meeting is a meeting of an unorganized group that is announced as open to everyone (or everyone within a specified sector of the population) interested in a particular problem or purpose defined by the meeting’s sponsors, and that is called with a view to appropriate action to be decided on and taken by the meeting body. A series of connected meetings making up a session may be held on such a basis. The class of persons invited might be, for example, supporters of a given political party, homeowners residing within a certain city, persons opposed to a tax increase, or any similar group. Admittance may be limited to the invited category if desired. Everyone who attends a mass meeting has the right to participate in the proceedings as a member of the assembly, upon the understanding that he is in general sympathy with the announced object of the meeting. 1:11 It should be noted that a large attendance is not an essential feature of the mass meeting, although it may usually be desired. A series of meetings held for the purpose of organizing a society are in the nature of mass meetings until the society has been formed. 1:12 Mass meetings are particularly treated in 53. 1:13 The Local Assembly of an Organized Society. The assembly at the meetings of an organized permanent society existing as a local club or local branch is the type of assembly with which the average person is most likely to have direct experience. As the highest authority within such a society or branch (subject only to the provisions of the bylaws or other basic document establishing the organization), this body acts for the total membership in the transaction of its business. Such an assembly’s membership is limited to persons who are recorded on the rolls of the society as voting members and who are in good standing.3 The bylaws of an organized local society (see 2:8–13) usually provide that it shall hold regular meetings at stated intervals—such as weekly, monthly, quarterly, or sometimes even annually—and also usually provide a procedure for calling special meetings as needed (see 9:13–16). Each of these meetings in such an organization normally is a separate session (8). 1:14 The Convention. A convention is an assembly of delegates (other than a permanently established public lawmaking body) chosen, normally for one session only, as representatives of constituent units or subdivisions of a much larger body of people in whose name the convention sits and acts. 1:15 The most common type of convention is that of an organized state or national society—held, for example, annually or biennially—in which the delegates are selected by, and from among the members of, each local branch. A convention is sometimes also called for the purpose of forming an association or federation; or, like a mass meeting, it may be convened to draw interested parties or representatives of interested organizations together in acting upon a common problem. The ordinary convention seldom lasts longer than a  week. In principle, however, there is no limit on the length of the convention session. A constitutional convention, for example—convoked to draft a proposed new state constitution —may continue for weeks or months. 1:16 The voting membership of a convention consists of persons who hold proper credentials as delegates or as persons in some other way entitled to such membership, which must be certified and reported to the convention by its Credentials Committee. Whenever the term “majority of the entire membership” is used in this book, it means, in the case of a convention of delegates, a majority of the total number of convention members entitled to vote, as set forth in the official roll of voting members of the convention (44:9(b), 59:25). 1:17 The conclusion of the convention session normally dissolves the assembly. In the case of a state or national society, when another convention convenes a year or two later, it is a new assembly. 1:18 Conventions are particularly treated in 58, 59, and 60. 1:19 The Legislative Body. The term legislative body refers to a constitutionally established public lawmaking body of representatives chosen by the electorate for a fixed term of office—such as Congress or a state legislature. Such a body typically (though not always) consists of two assemblies, or “houses.” Its sessions may last for months, during which it meets daily and its members are paid to devote their full time to its work and can be legally compelled to attend its meetings. 1:20 Each state or national legislative assembly generally has its own well-developed body of rules, interpretations, and precedents, so that the exact procedure for a particular legislative house can be found only in its own manual. 1:21 In this connection, however, it should be noted that certain smaller public bodies may serve a lawmaking function yet not  assume the character of a full-scale legislative assembly, and instead may somewhat resemble a board or the assembly of a society. An example of such a body might be a city council that meets weekly or monthly and whose members continue their own full-time occupations during their term of service. 1:22 The Board. A board, in the general sense of the term, is an administrative, managerial, or quasi-judicial body of elected or appointed persons that differs from several of the other principal types of deliberative assembly as follows: a) boards are frequently smaller than most other assemblies; and b) while a board may or may not function autonomously, its operation is determined by responsibilities and powers delegated to it or conferred on it by authority outside itself. 1:23 A board may be assigned a particular function on behalf of a national, state, or local government, as a village board that operates like a small city council, a board of education, or a board of examiners. In a nonstock corporation that has no assembly or body of persons constituting a general voting membership, as a university or foundation, the board of directors, managers, trustees, or governors is the supreme governing body of the institution. Similarly, in a stock corporation, although the board of directors is elected by stockholders who hold an annual meeting, it constitutes the highest authority in the management of the corporation. A board within an organized society, on the other hand, is an instrumentality of the society’s full assembly, to which it is subordinate. Boards are discussed in greater detail in 49. Applicability of Modified Parliamentary Rules in Small Boards and in Committees 1:24 The distinction between a board and a committee must be briefly noted here for an understanding of what follows. A board of any size is a form of assembly as just explained. Committees, on the other hand, are bodies that are often, but not necessarily, very small, and that are subordinate instruments of an assembly or are accountable to a higher authority in some way not characteristic of an assembly. Large boards generally follow parliamentary procedure in the same way as any other assembly. In small boards, and in committees, most parliamentary rules apply, but certain modifications permitting greater flexibility and informality are commonly allowed (see 49:21, 50:25–26). The distinguishing characteristics of boards and committees are discussed in 49 and 50.