Jim Willard poses for a photo with his dog Lucy at his home office in Loveland on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024. In the background above his desk is a framed photo of his late dog Toohey. (Jenny Sparks/Loveland Herald reporter)
“Football combines two of the worst things in American life: violence punctuated by committee meetings.” – George Will.
Sadly, George’s observation may be distorted in our world to “committee meetings interrupted by violence (or the threat of violence).”
Our politics are full of vitriol at every level. It’s as if there are limits to civility (and intelligence) in the world, and the human population continues to grow.
You’ve probably seen this behavior before, from the national level to local governments and even homeowners association and school board meetings.
I think a certain lack of civility in meetings has existed for decades. That may have been the driving force behind the United States. Army Major Henry Martin Robert takes action.
Major R. was chosen to preside over church meetings in 1863. He accepted the assignment, which he believed did not have the necessary knowledge of proper procedures.
San Francisco in the mid-to-late 19th century was a chaotic place where meetings of any kind could become chaotic. There was little consistency in procedures. He felt that some kind of protocol needed to be developed to provide structure to the meetings.
After more than ten years of research, he published his manual in 1876.
It was an adaptation of the rules (?) and practices of the U.S. Congress to suit the needs of organizations other than the legislative body.
His preface states, “The purpose of the rules of order is to assist Congress in accomplishing its intended task…Where there are no laws…real freedom is minimal.”
Following his military career, Roberts served as an active member of several organizations, where he learned that members from different parts of the country had very different views on what the appropriate parliamentary rules were. I discovered that
Clearly, these contradictory views hindered the organization’s work. Ultimately, Roberts became convinced of the need for a new manual on the subject that would allow many organizations to adopt the same set of rules.
He subsequently published four editions of the manual before his death in 1923. The last edition was revised and expanded as Robert’s Rules of Order Revised for Councils, published in 1915.
At the time, he had retired from the Army with the rank of brigadier general.
To help beginners, he published an introductory book in 1921 titled Parliamentary Practice: An Introduction to Parliamentary Law.
Robert may have thought he had the last word on parliamentary procedure. His tombstone read, “Move, postpone.” No, I’m just kidding.
During my senior year of college, I had a few extra credits to accumulate beyond my math degree, so I decided to take a course in parliamentary procedure.
The instructor was the head of the Department of Political Science and was recognized as an excellent teacher, so I thought it would be a good experience that I could use later in life (after my military service).
He did not teach “Robert’s Rules of Order.” He taught “Standard Congressional Procedure.” At the time, this was known as the Sturgis Standard Congressional Procedure Act.
Written in 1950 and published by Alice Sturgis.
What is commonly referred to as the “standard code” omits some of the motions used in Robert’s rules.
Although Alice passed away in 1975, her legacy lived on as the fourth edition of her work was revised by a committee of the American Congressional Association (What protocol is used at committee meetings? I don’t know if it was done.)
A quote on the cover of The Standard Code reads: “Anyone who has a problem with Robert’s Rules of Order will appreciate the simplicity of this streamlined guide to parliamentary procedure.” I am.
So, thanks to Dr. Sikkink, I kept the textbook and used the “rules” in the many meetings I chaired.
Using (and following) a code of conduct is important in organizations where disagreements occur. The evidence is all around us.