Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure
Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure, referred to as Mason's Manual, is the official parliamentary authority of most state legislatures in the United States.[1] The Manual covers motions, procedures, vote requirements, the rules of order, principles, precedents, and legal basis behind parliamentary law used by legislatures.
The author, Paul Mason (1898–1985), was a scholar who worked for the California State Senate. He is best known for writing Constitutional History of California in 1951 and Manual of Legislative Procedure in 1935. The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) was assigned copyright ownership by Mason prior to his death.
The NCSL assigned the American Society of Legislative Clerks and Secretaries (ASLCS) the task of editing and maintaining the manual for future printings. In 1984, the ASLCS created the Mason's Manual Revision Commission consisting of ASLCS members.[2] It is responsible for editing and revising the manual to keep pace with the modern challenges and developments in parliamentary procedures.
The most recent edition is the 2020 edition.[3]
References
External links
- 1979 Edition – Internet Archive
- The Advantages of Mason's Manual for Legislative Bodies
- v
- t
- e
- History of parliamentary procedure
- Principles of parliamentary procedure
- Deliberative assembly
- Committee
- Session
- Quorum
- Chair
- Floor
- Recognition
- Motion
- Second
- Debate
- Main motion
- Order of business
- Minutes
- Voting methods in deliberative assemblies
- Majority
- Unanimous consent
- Postpone indefinitely
- Amend
- Commit
- Postpone to a certain time
- Limit or extend limits of debate
- Previous question
- Cloture
- Lay on the table
- Call for the orders of the day
- Raise a question of privilege
- Recess
- Adjourn
- Fix the time to which to adjourn
- Point of order
- Appeal
- Suspend the rules
- Objection to the consideration of a question
- Division of a question
- Consideration by paragraph or seriatim
- Division of the assembly
- Motions relating to methods of voting and the polls
- Motions relating to nominations
- Prayer motion
- Request to be excused from a duty
- Requests and inquiries (Parliamentary inquiry, Request for information, Request for permission to withdraw or modify a motion, Request to read papers, Request for any other privilege)
again before the assembly
- Censure
- Declare the chair vacant
- Impeach
- Naming
- Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR)
- The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure (TSC or Sturgis)
- Demeter's Manual of Parliamentary Law and Procedure
- Riddick's Rules of Procedure
- Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure
- Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice
- Jefferson's Manual
- Lex Parliamentaria
- Odgers' Australian Senate Practice
- House of Representatives Practice
- Bourinot's Rules of Order
- Beauchesne's Parliamentary Rules and Forms
- Morin code
- ABC of Chairmanship