Robert's Rules of Order, often simply referred to as Robert's Rules, is a manual of parliamentary procedure by U.S. Army officer Henry Martyn Robert (1837–1923). "The object of Rules of Order is to assist an assembly to accomplish the work for which it was designed [...] Where there is no law [...] there is the least of real liberty." The term Robert's Rules of Order is also used more generically to refer to any of the more recent editions, by various editors and authors, based on any of Robert's original editions, and the term is used more generically in the United States to refer to parliamentary procedure. It was written primarily to help guide voluntary associations in their operations of governance.
Robert's manual was first published in 1876 as an adaptation of the rules and practice of the United States Congress to suit the needs of non-legislative societies. Robert's Rules is the most widely used manual of parliamentary procedure in the United States. It governs the meetings of a diverse range of organizations—including church groups, county commissions, homeowners' associations, nonprofit associations, professional societies, school boards, trade unions, and college fraternities and sororities—that have adopted it as their parliamentary authority. Robert published four editions of the manual before his death in 1923, the last being the thoroughly revised and expanded Fourth Edition published as Robert's Rules of Order Revised in May 1915.
History
A U.S. Army officer, Henry Martyn Robert (1837–1923), saw a need for a standard of parliamentary procedure while living in San Francisco. He found San Francisco in the mid-to-late 19th century to be a chaotic place where meetings of any kind tended to be tumultuous, with little consistency of procedure and with people of many nationalities and traditions thrown together.
The first edition of the book, whose full title was Pocket Manual of Rules of Order for Deliberative Assemblies, was published in February 1876 by the then-Major Robert, with the short title Robert's Rules of Order placed on its cover.
The procedures prescribed by the book were loosely modeled after those used in the United States House of Representatives, with such adaptations as Robert saw fit for use in ordinary societies. Although he was in the military, the rules in his book were not based on military rules. The author's interest in parliamentary procedure began in 1863 when he was chosen to preside over a church meeting and, although he accepted the task, he felt that he did not have the necessary knowledge of proper procedure.
In his later work as an active member of several organizations, Robert discovered that members from different areas of the country had very different views regarding what the proper parliamentary rules were, and these conflicting views hampered the organizations in their work. He eventually became convinced of the need for a new manual on the subject, one which would enable many organizations to adopt the same set of rules.
Henry M. Robert himself published four editions of the manual before his death in 1923, the last being the thoroughly revised and expanded Fourth Edition published as Robert's Rules of Order Revised for Deliberative Assemblies in May 1915. By this time Robert had long been retired from the Army with the rank of brigadier general. The revisions were based on the feedback from hundreds of letters that Robert had received through the years. In addition, to explain the rules in Robert's Rules of Order Revised (abbreviated ROR), Robert published an introductory book for beginners titled Parliamentary Practice: An Introduction to Parliamentary Law in 1921 and a full book of explanations titled Parliamentary Law in 1923.
Special rules In those cases in which the bylaws or other governing documents of an organization refer to "Robert's Rules of Order", certain rules in the book may be subordinate to other specified rules, including any conflicting provisions in applicable law, the corporate charter, the constitution or bylaws, and special rules of order.
Even if an organization has adopted Robert's Rules of Order, it can still adopt its own rules which supersede any rules in this book. The only limitations might come from the rules in a parent organization or from national, state, or local law. An example of a rule that organizations sometimes adopt is one that allows the use of proxy voting. Such a rule is not allowed unless the organization specifically provides for it in its bylaws.
Concise editions Since the copyrights for several of the original editions (1915 or earlier) have expired, numerous other books and manuals have been published incorporating "Robert's Rules of Order" as part of their titles, with some of them based on those earlier editions (see List of books with Robert's Rules in the title). Some examples are Robert's Rules of Order (1989) by Darwin Patnode, PhD, past President of the American Institute of Parliamentarians. Simplified and updated based on the original 1876 edition, Thomas Nelson, Robert's Rules in Plain English, Second Edition (2005) by Doris P. Zimmerman, HarperCollins, Robert's Rules Simplified (2006), by Arthur T. Lewis and Henry M. Robert, Dover Publications,
Henry M. Robert III, grandson of the original author and Trustee for the Robert's Rules Association, had acknowledged that "there has been controversy among parliamentarians concerning the length of Robert's Rules in its various editions and the complexity of the rules it describes." As a result, a supplemental book was developed.
In 2005, a shorter reference guide, Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised In Brief (abbreviated RONRIB), was published by the same authorship team and publisher as the Tenth Edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR) and was made to be in accord with that edition of RONR. A third edition of this shorter guide was published in 2020 to conform with the current Twelfth Edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised.
The In Brief book is the only concise guide for Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised authorized by the Robert's Rules Association, and is intended as an introductory book for those unfamiliar with parliamentary procedure. The authors say, "In only thirty minutes, the average reader can learn the bare essentials, and with about ninety minutes' reading can cover all the basics." It is meant to be an introductory supplement to the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised and is not suitable for adoption as a parliamentary authority in itself.
Comprehensive editions
Through a family trust, and later through the Robert's Rules Association (which is made up of descendants of Henry M. Robert), several subsequent editions of Robert's Rules of Order have been published, including another major revision of the work. The Seventh Edition, published in February 1970 on the 94th anniversary of the publication of the First Edition, was the first under the title Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR). The subsequent editions were based on additional feedback from users, including feedback received by electronic means in recent years. These later editions included material from Robert's Parliamentary Practice and Parliamentary Law.
The current edition of the series became effective on September 1, 2020, under the title Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, Twelfth Edition. Announcement by Henry M. Robert, III, at the 2011 convention of the National Association of Parliamentarians This edition states that it:
The authorship team of the current Twelfth Edition consists of a grandson of General Robert, an attorney, a lobbyist and legislative analyst, a mathematics professor, and a copy editor, all of them being experienced parliamentarians.
More than six million copies have been printed (which is a total of all editions).
The following table lists the official versions of the body of work known as Robert's Rules of Order developed by Henry M. Robert and maintained by his successors.
+ Editions of Robert's Rules of Order, Robert's Rules of Order Revised, and Robert's Rules of Order Newly RevisedTitle EditionCover Year Authors (posthumous authorial credit in italics) PublisherPocket Manual of Rules of Order for Deliberative Assemblies: Robert's Rules of OrderFirstFebruary 1876Major Henry M. RobertS. C. Griggs & CompanySecondJuly 1876Major Henry M. Robert (Lieut. Colonel in later printings)S. C. Griggs & CompanyThird1893Lieut. Colonel Henry M. Robert (Colonel, then General in later printings)S. C. Griggs & Company (Scott, Foresman and Company in later printings)Robert's Rules of Order RevisedFourth1915General Henry M. RobertScott, Foresman and CompanyFifth1943General Henry M. Robert (Editors: Isabel H. Robert and Sarah Corbin Robert, Trustee)Scott, Foresman and CompanySixth (75th Anniversary)1951General Henry M. Robert (Editors: Isabel H. Robert and Sarah Corbin Robert, Trustee)Scott, Foresman and CompanyRobert's Rules of Order Newly RevisedSeventh1970General Henry M. Robert and Sarah Corbin Robert with the assistance of Henry M. Robert III, James W. Cleary, and William J. EvansScott, Foresman and CompanyEighth1981General Henry M. Robert and Sarah Corbin Robert with the assistance of Henry M. Robert III, James W. Cleary, and William J. EvansScott, Foresman and CompanyNinth1990General Henry M. Robert and Sarah Corbin Robert with the assistance of Henry M. Robert III and William J. EvansScott, Foresman and CompanyTenth ("Millennium")2000General Henry M. Robert, Sarah Corbin Robert, Henry M. Robert III, William J. Evans, Daniel H. Honemann, and Thomas J. BalchPerseus BooksEleventh2011General Henry M. Robert, Sarah Corbin Robert, Henry M. Robert III, William J. Evans, Daniel H. Honemann, and Thomas J. Balch with the assistance of Daniel E. Seabold and Shmuel GerberDa Capo Press, A Member of the Perseus Books GroupTwelfth2020General Henry M. Robert, Sarah Corbin Robert, Henry M. Robert III, William J. Evans, Daniel H. Honemann, Thomas J. Balch, Daniel E. Seabold, and Shmuel GerberPublicAffairs, an imprint of Perseus Books LLC, a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group.
Purpose Generally, Robert's Rules of Order is a guide for conducting meetings and making decisions as a group. The purpose of the book is "to enable assemblies of any size, with due regard for every member's opinion, to arrive at the general will on the maximum number of questions of varying complexity in a minimum amount of time and under all kinds of internal climate ranging from total harmony to hardened or impassioned division of opinion".
The book is designed for use in ordinary societies rather than legislative assemblies, and it is the most commonly adopted parliamentary authority among societies in the United States. It is also recognized as "the most widely used reference for meeting procedure and business rules in the English-speaking world".
The book states that it is "a codification of the present-day general parliamentary law". "General parliamentary law" refers to the common rules and customs for conducting business in organizations and assemblies. It does not refer to statutory legal requirements nor to common-law precedent derived from court judgments. In other words, the book is about procedures for meetings and not about what is "legal" (i.e. it is not a law book).
As a reference, it is designed to answer, as nearly as possible, any question of parliamentary procedure that may arise. The Twelfth Edition contains 633 pages of text, and all of its original content was included because it "has at some time come up as a question of procedure somewhere". The completeness of the book was made so that organizations would not have to write extensive rules for themselves. In addition, members of different organizations could refer to the same book of rules.
Henry M. Robert III responded to the simplification by saying the following: