Wiktionary
n. The formal procedures used by a deliberative assembly in its decision making to keep order.
WordNet
n. a body of rules followed by an assembly [syn: order, rules of order, parliamentary law]
Wikipedia
Parliamentary procedure is the body of rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings and other operations of clubs, organizations, legislative bodies, and other deliberative assemblies.
In the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and other English-speaking countries it is often called chairmanship, chairing, the law of meetings, procedure at meetings, or the conduct of meetings. In the United States, parliamentary procedure is also referred to as parliamentary law, parliamentary practice, legislative procedure, or rules of order.
At its heart is the rule of the majority with respect for the minority. Its object is to allow deliberation upon questions of interest to the organization and to arrive at the sense or the will of the assembly upon these questions. Self-governing organizations follow parliamentary procedure to debate and reach group decisions—usually by vote—with the least possible friction.
Rules of order consist of rules written by the body itself (often referred to as bylaws), but also usually supplemented by a published parliamentary authority adopted by the body. Typically, national, state, and other full-scale legislative assemblies have extensive internally written rules of order, whereas non-legislative bodies write and adopt a limited set of specific rules as the need arises.
Usage examples of "parliamentary procedure".
Unless the situation seems to require it, we'll relax the full rigor of standard parliamentary procedure.
His request was not unusual and was well within the limits of parliamentary procedure.
He prompts the chairmanthe nominal head of the organizationon parliamentary procedure.
Such techniques, still primitive today, will become fantastically more sophisticated in the years immediately ahead, providing us with a systematic way to collect and reconcile conflicting images of the preferable future, even from people unskilled in academic debate or parliamentary procedure.
He had read that the Senate, after the formality of converting itself from a legislative body into a high tribunal of justice, had voted upon sixteen rules of parliamentary procedure to govern its behavior as a court of impeachment.
There were no rules of parliamentary procedure at meetings in PDC.
Lazarus Long's streamlined version of parliamentary procedure had them somewhat startled.