NEW-Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, 12th edition

by Henry Martyn Robert

816 pages, Paperback

About the author

U.S. Army Colonel Henry Martyn Robert (1837–1923)

In 1863 when Robert was chosen to preside over a church meeting and, although he accepted the task, 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.

Reviews

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I am a parliamentarian, lapsed. As in I belong to my local unit of National Association of Parliamentarians, but let my national certification lapse.
If you are using an edition that is older than the 12th, please dump it in your recycle bin.
That said, the 12 Edition of Robert's was a badly needed update. The most cogent reason was what happened to organizations during the pandemic, when many of us, parliamentary units included, were caught without provisions in our bylaws for electronic meetings. We also were presented with new electronic technology that surpassed whatever slim assistance we could find with the old edition.
There are a lot of people who have trouble reading Robert's, and I completely understand. The most recent edition of Robert's in Brief will be perfect for most anyone. But whenever an organization gets into the weeds with trying to rewrite their bylaws, or they get a member who tries to steamroll everyone else, the first thing they SHOULD do is look for answers in this book. And call a local unit for help from someone who can interpret what this book says.
Parliamentary procedure is NOT complicated. It keeps meetings orderly and prevents them from rambling on incessantly. The entire reason I wanted to learn parliamentary procedure was to be able to run a meeting that stayed on track, gave everyone the time to speak (but in a fair fashion so they didn't dominate), and then get out of there so we could go home in time to watch television! (If you get my drift.) I had had it where discussion was repetitious and accomplished nothing beyond letting people pontificate endlessly. Robert's helped me immensely. Belonging to a unit taught me the way to run a short, complete meeting that was fair. Robert's is the key.
I am not going to say it is easy reading. The verbiage is just plain archaic (with all due respect to the authors who actually made this edition less objectionable than the last one!) and it is easy to understand why lay people hate the book.
But process is process, whether you use Robert's or any other knock-off. If you want an orderly meeting that gets decisions made, and complications arise, chances are, with some digging, you will find the answer in Robert's.
But be advised, if your organization is rewriting bylaws, this is the copy you need to craft your provisions for electronic meetings. The authors did a good job of giving groups sound advice in this arena. You can write a section that will be vague enough to allow for the inevitable advances in tech so that you won't need to update your bylaws every time a new method comes along.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 2 out of 5]

✒️”Point of order!” Sandy cried out during the meeting. “Point of order!” This kind of interruption hamstrung meetings so that she could control the narratives and no progress was made. But she felt important, and the shadow Board continued, business as usual. She uses Robert's Rules as a weapon.

📕Published— 1915. In the public domain. By General Henry Martyn Robert, U. S. Army.

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