When the Rules Aren't Enough: To be effective, you need to know--and play by--established parliamentary procedures.

• Author: Erickson, Brenda
• Position: LEGISLATURES

What happens when a legislature has an unusual conflict? Or when something unforeseen happens, or there's procedural ambiguity?

As parliamentary bodies, the 50 state and five territorial legislatures have procedures that serve as blueprints for operating. But legislative life can be unpredictable.

Things happen.

Normally, presiding officers turn to several sources--state constitutions, chamber rules, state statutes--when interpreting procedures. But these don't cover every parliamentary nuance that a chamber may face.

Most chambers plan for this by adopting a backup parliamentary manual, which helps cover issues not addressed by a chamber's own rules. There's no requirement that chambers do this, of course, and at least seven have not.

When questions arise, 77 legislative chambers turn to Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure. It was written specifically for state legislatures and addresses issues and problems typical of that environment. It also includes citations to other parliamentary manuals and court decisions, adding to its authority. But it's not the only guide.

Most Americans don't know that, among his many talents, Thomas Jefferson was a renowned parliamentarian and wrote Jefferson's Manual. It serves as an additional source of parliamentary advice in 14 chambers.

Then there's Robert's Rules of Order, an especially popular guide outside the legislature. Lawmakers often are familiar with it from their previous experiences in civic and private organizations, the very groups Henry Martyn Robert was targeting while writing it. Three chambers use it.

Other guides include Cannon's Precedents, Cushing's Manual, Hinds' Precedents, Hughes' American Parliamentary Guide, Reed's Parliamentary Rules and even the U.S. House and Senate rules.

In ordinary times, a chamber's rules will be sufficient to help legislators make good decisions in an orderly manner. But events aren't always orderly--or ordinary. Turning to a backup manual may be beneficial, not only to address the problem at hand, but also to honor and preserve the institution itself.

BY BRENDA ERICKSON

Brenda Erickson is a program principal in NCSL's Legislative Staff Services Program.

The Man Behind the Manual

Paul Mason, as chief assistant secretary and parliamentarian of the California Senate, quietly made his mark on the world of state legislatures when he wrote his first "Manual of Legislative Procedure" in 1935. Mason's hobby was the legislative process--he wrote his master's...