Description

While Robert’s Rules of Order has long been the standard guide to parliamentary procedure, many readers find the manual too daunting and complex to utilize its full potential. In Notes and Comments on "Robert’s Rules", fourth edition, authors Jim Slaughter, Gaut Ragsdale, and Jon Ericson skillfully guide users through the intricate pathways of the latest edition of Robert’s Rules, transforming the often intimidating parliamentary guidebook into an easy-to-use tool. Notes and Comments explains in simple terms the individual motions found in Robert’s Rules, presents extensive tips and suggestions regarding possible modifications to Robert’s practices; allows readers to witness the vigorous debate about the rules within the notes section; and compares major parliamentary authorities.  A reader-friendly question-and-answer format provides immediate solutions to the most common quandaries that arise during the meeting process, and a card featuring simplified charts of parliamentary motions is available for the user’s quick reference.

An essential volume for members of nonprofits, voluntary associations, unions, condo and homeowner associations, student organizations, and government bodies, Notes and Comments on “Robert’s Rules” makes parliamentary procedure accessible to meeting participants as never before. Each section of this authoritative, straightforward guide is designed to empower participants with the confidence and knowledge necessary to navigate any meeting, large or small, with the utmost efficiency.

2013 Winner of the Phifer Award from the National Communication Association

About the Author

Jim Slaughter is an attorney, a certified professional parliamentarian-teacher, a professional registered parliamentarian, and past president of the American College of Parliamentary Lawyers. He is a partner in the North Carolina law firm of Rossabi Black Slaughter, PA. 

Gaut Ragsdale, a certified professional parliamentarian-teacher and a registered parliamentarian, is a professor at Northern Kentucky University and associate dean of the College of Informatics.

Jon Ericson, the Ellis and Nelle Levitt Professor of Rhetoric and Communication Studies emeritus and a former Provost at Drake University, is the original author of Notes and Comments on Robert’s Rules.

Praise For…

“For anyone who has felt hog-tied and browbeat by parliamentary procedures (or parliamentarians), I second the motion to get this book.  Ericson, Slaughter and Ragsdale turn the mystery of Robert’s Rules into plain English. Notes and Comments on Robert’s Rules, Fourth Edition is crisply organized, accessible to the novice and invaluable to the practiced.”—Dennis Van Roekel, President, National Education Association

“You may own a copy of Robert’s Rules. You may have even read it. But to truly understand Robert’s, you need Notes and Comments on Robert’s Rules, Fourth Edition.”—Rich Trumka, President, AFL-CIO