Other editions of book Robert's Rules of Order

Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, commonly referred to as Robert's Rules of Order, RONR, or simply 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, and trade unions-that have adopted it as their parliamentary authority. The manual was first published in 1876 by .US Army officer Henry Martyn Robert, who adapted the rules and practice of Congress to the needs of non-legislative societies. Ten subsequent editions have been published, including major revisions in 1915 and 1970. The copyright to Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised is owned by the Robert's Rules Association, which selects by contract an authorship team to continue the task of revising and updating the book. The 11th and current edition was published in 2011. In 2005, the Robert's Rules Association published an official concise guide, titled Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised In Brief. A second edition of the brief book was published in 2011.

Robert's Rules of Order INTRODUCTION. Parliamentary Law. Parliamentary Law refers originally to the customs and rules of conducting business in the English Parliament; and thence to the customs and rules of our own legislative assemblies. In England these customs and usages of Parliament form a part of the unwritten law of the land, and in our own legislative bodies they are of authority in all cases where they do not conflict with existing rules or precedents. But as a people we have not the respect which the English have for customs and precedents, and are always ready for innovations which we think are improvements, and hence changes have been and are being constantly made in the written rules which our legislative bodies have found best to adopt. As each house adopts its own rules, it results that the two houses of the same legislature do not always agree in their practice; even in Congress the order of precedence of motions is not the same in both houses, and the Previous Question is admitted in the House of Representatives, but not in the Senate. As a consequence of this, the exact method of conducting business in any particular legislative body is to be obtained only from the Legislative Manual of that body.

Since Robert's Rules of Order first was published in 1896, it's been the means to orderly, smooth, and fairly conducted meetings. This ninth edition of the famous manual of parliamentary procedure includes everything from the first edition, but all of the information is clarified, cross-referenced, and carefully indexed. "Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty," said General Henry M. Robert, and his gift of order is as indispensable now as it was a century ago.