TennesseeTennessee
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To promote the study and use of parliamentary
procedure To interest deliberative groups in the democratic practice of parliamentary procedure in their government To promote opportunity for the study of parliamentary law To promote the values of democratic decision making and civic involvement |
Who we are. Who was Robert? What is Robert's?
"What does Roberts say? Look it up in Roberts." "They're not following
Roberts."
Ever heard these and wondered who or what is Roberts?
General Henry M. Robert was an army officer in the late 1800s who was active in civic and church organizations wherever he was posted. In both San Francisco and Portland he discovered the settlers spent a lot of time in disagreements over how their meetings should be run, since each came from a different hometown. It quickly became apparent to Robert that a mobile people needed a manual of meeting procedures to establish some uniformity. He decided to write such a manual, with the goal of enabling civic-minded people to belong to several organizations or to move to new localities without constantly encountering different parliamentary rules. His first manual, A Pocket Manual of Rules of Order for Deliberative Assemblies, was published in 1876. The first printing, which Roberts expected to last 2 years, sold out in 4 months. Numerous revisions have been published since then (about every 10 years is the current pattern) and General Robert's little manual continues to be a best seller.
When most people say Roberts, it is shorthand for Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised, which is the name of the current (1990) edition of this manual of parliamentary procedure. It is intended for use by any group that does not have its own set of rules, or has some rules but wishes to use the rules in RONR for the rest of their rules. Groups adopt RONR as their parliamentary authority by naming it in their bylaws as the publication they will use.
The National Association of Parliamentarians is composed of people who want to increase their own knowledge of parliamentary procedure as described in RONR and share that knowledge with their community. When five or more members of NAP live in the same area, they organize into a Unit. The unit meets on a regular basis, primarily for study. The Knoxville unit is called Tennessee Alpha because it was the first unit organized in Tennessee.
There is also a state level organization, the Tennessee Association of Parliamentarians. TAP holds an annual meeting to conduct business and there is always an educational component. The public is welcome to attend the education sessions. A small fee is generally charged to cover materials.
The National Association of Parliamentarians has a website.
The Tennessee Association of Parliamentarians has a website.
Robert's Rules of Order (the book) has a website.
The Alpha Unit offers the following services to the community:
Professional Parliamentary Services:
Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised,
2000 edition (paperback): $17
Supplemental Index to RONR: $8
Robert's Rules of Order in Brief: $6
Pointers on Parliamentary Procedure (spiralbound): $10
Workbook for Pointers on Parliamentary Procedure: $10
The A-B-Cs of Parliamentary Procedure: $3.00
A Simplified Guide to Motions: $2
Spotlight series of Handbooks: $3 each
The following shipping and handling charges apply to any order:
$2.00 on orders under $5
$4.00 on orders $5.01 to $10
$6.00 on orders $10.01 to $30
$8.00 on orders $30.01 to $50
To place an order, contact us (see below).
E-mail the webmaster.
Attend one of our meetings
This page was updated in November, 2008.