Parliamentary Procedure is the name for the procedural rules (i.e., the rules that govern how a decision is reached–parliamentary procedure does not govern which decision will be reached) that help an organization accomplish business quickly, efficiently, and fairly.  It is based on majority rule and is designed to balance the rights of the individual, the minority, the majority, and of the whole organization at the same time.

Robert’s Rules of Order is the most commonly used manual of parliamentary procedure; other manuals (with slight variations in rules) include The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure and Cannon’s Concise Guide to Rules of Order.

Parliamentary Procedure:

• Preserves order and decorum to prevent chaos and personal attacks among an organization’s members.
• Protects every member’s right to be heard – and prevents discussion from continuing for too long.
• Ensures democratic rule in organizations so that decisions are made only by the agreement of the majority.
• Allows its own rules to be flexible enough to change in order to best accommodate the needs of the organizations that use it.