Fred Francis - Democratic Rules of Order: Complete, Easy-to-Use Parliamentary Guide for Governing Meetings of Any Size

Advance Praise
Democratic Rules of Order

Stuck in Dysfunction-ville? Are your meetings inefficient, frustrating and possibly not legal? Democratic Rules of Order is a small, brilliant book that can make a world of difference. Buy everyone a copy it will be one of the best investments youve ever made.

Bruce Batchelor, author, publisher, innovator, and no-longer-frustrated meeting attendee

This is Roberts Rules, simplified, modernized, clarified and, most importantly, humanized.

Ric Getter, PCC Media Production/PCC-TV, Educational Advisory Council Membership chair, Portland Community College Sylvania

Many condominiums get tangled up with Roberts Rules of Order which is most often far too complex. That is why the Team and VISOA recommend the uncomplicated Democratic Rules of Order to all stratas.

David Grubb, board member and chair, Strata Support Team, Vancouver Island Strata Owners Association (VISOA)

We highly recommend this book to any organization for its clear and simple directions.

Caroline Holm, clerk, First Church of Christ, Scientist, Victoria, Canada

Easy-to-follow guidelines allowed us to get a handle on the tasks that needed doing, without regularly digressing into chaos. Kudos to the authors for keeping a rowdy bunch of us on track.

Pieter Vorster, Courtenay rugby team board member, and chief editor, TideChange.ca

I bought a copy for each member of the board and we voted to make it the official procedure manual. Its: 1) easy to understand, 2) easy to learn, 3) user-friendly, 4) logical, and 5) efficient.

Edward E. Douglas, BA, MA, past vice-president of a library board of trustees

Truly the guide for the rest of uswith elegant solutions to three challenges: how to run meetings with fairness, efficiency, and good order, how to do so with rules that everybody can understand, and how to foster true democracy in a world that needs it more than ever.

Jim Rietmulder, author, When Kids Rule the School, and co-founder, The Circle School

A gem of a reference book, it is practical, well-structured and is detailed and informative about meeting terminology.

Gerry OSullivan, facilitator, mediator, and trainer, and author, The Mediators Toolkit

Need more books?

Meetings run best when everyone in your organization has a copy of Democratic Rules of Order.

Whether you need 10 copies or 1,000, discounted bulk purchases are available from New Society Publisherscontact us for details.

Tel: 1-800-567-6772 ext. 111

Email:

Branded orders!

Contact us to order copies of Democratic Rules of Order branded with your organizations logo. Minimum order of 500 books.

Dedicated to democracy

Copyright 2019 by Fred Francis and Peg Francis.

All rights reserved.

Cover design by Diane McIntosh.

Cover images iStock 683605452

Printed in Canada. First printing May 2019.

Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of Democratic Rules of Order should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below. To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free (North America) 1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com

Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to:

New Society Publishers P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC

V0R 1X0, Canada

(250) 247-9737

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Title: Democratic rules of order : easy-to-use rules for meetings of any size / Fred Francis, Peg Francis.

Names: Francis, Fred, author. | Francis, Peg, author. Description: 10th edition. | Includes index.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20190060735 | Canadiana (ebook) 20190060743 | ISBN 9780865719064 (softcover) | ISBN 9781550926996 (PDF) | ISBN 9781771422956 (EPUB)

Subjects: LCSH: Parliamentary practiceHandbooks, manuals, etc. | LCSH: MeetingsHandbooks, manuals, etc.

Classification: LCC JF515 .F73 2019 | DDC 060.4/2dc23

New Society Publishers mission is to publish books that contribute in fundamental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so with the least possible impact on the environment, in a manner that models this vision.

Fred and Peg Francis have done an amazing job. Their book is absolutely indispensable for anyone who conducts meetings or participates in democratic discussion at any levelfrom parliamentary assemblies to condominium annual meetings. What the Francises have succeeded in doing is cutting through the forbidding complexities of running a meeting and reducing them to a simple set of common-sense rules that anyone can follow. When this book is employed, the disappointments that accompany many meetings can be sharply reduced and democratic participation greatly improved.

Over the years, I have chaired or attended hundreds of meetings at the governmental, business, church, and social levels and have often been frustrated by the difficulties of properly presiding over such meetings so that everyone can understand the process, and the will of the majority can be formulated and prevail. Much of the difficulty arises from the fact that few have the time or inclination to study the old-style rule books, and are therefore easily intimidatedeven tyrannized sometimesby the very few who know them.

The Francises book is making an important contribution to democracy. It can be readily adopted by any group, council, union, or corporation, and will be of lasting benefit. Speaking personally, I have sat through years of parliamentary debate and appreciate the valueand necessityof achieving consensus in a democratic proceeding by having rules and following them. Up until now, the rules have been exceedingly complex, often confusing, and unsatisfactory at many levels. From here on in, those groups who adopt Democratic Rules of Order will find significant improvement in both the tenor of their meetings and the validity of the results.

Douglas Leiterman was Parliamentary Correspondent for Southam News, an Executive Producer at CBC, and CEO of Motion Picture Bond Company.

Are you frustrated by meetings that lack efficiency fail to move smoothly through an agenda lose order and professionalism due to emotional outbursts or do not foster constructive decision-making that truly represents the wishes of the membership?

Youre not alone. And it doesnt have to be that way!

After years of volunteering their time for community groupsincluding attending hundreds of professional and nonprofit meetingsFred and Peg Francis recognized the need for a concise, authoritative resource to assist boards of directors, committees, and other organized groups seeking to fairly represent their memberships by hosting efficient, effective meetings.

Because they could not find such a resource, they created one. It took several years of refining (and a great deal of input from executives, parliamentarians, and other users) to perfect the rules, to be sure that each point was crystal clear, and that not a single necessary rule was missing. Introduced in 1994 as