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

The authors are remarkable. Fred invented a more efficient wood stove that cut pollution considerably. This book was another thoughtful innovation Fred and Peg have given to mankind. I had the honour of knowing them and wrote about their cleverness in my book at marketing. Here is the excerpt from Book Marketing DeMystified: Enjoy Discovering the Optimal Way to Sell Your Self-Published Book, Practical advice from the inventor of print-on-demand (POD) publishing... Why write down an honest statement of your PURPOSE? Because knowing 'why' will guide your decisions in the rest of the marketing mix. Here's an example. In 1994, Fred and Peg Francis wrote Democratic Rules of Order: The Complete Official Parliamentary Authority for Meetings of Any Size [isbn 096992604] not to make money but to have a beneficial impact on society. Democratic Rules of Order is the one parliamentary standard that fully protects every member's right to equal participation in orderly meetings. It does this with concise, common sense rules without jargon or unnecessary protocol. Fred wrote this on their website at www.democratic-rules.com: "This book has been a very satisfying project for Fred and Peg who see the urgent need for more justice and stronger democracies in our world. For a democracy to work successfully the populace itself must understand and want to obey the democratic principles. Citizens need practice in making the individual rights of each member and the rights of the majority work together. People using this book are practicing and learning these laws at the grass-roots level." This very concise book (27 pages of rules, a 14-page sample meeting plus questions-and-answers) explains meeting rules that are fair and easy for everyone to master - a far cry from the 600-plus pages of Robert's Rules of Order! With Roberts, a knowledgeable chair can manipulate meetings to have his or her own opinions prevail. With Democratic, everyone knows the rules and is on equal footing. For Fred and Peg, a marketing plan had to reflect their mission, so they hired an editor to polish the text, making the book as understandable and credible as possible. They felt that this was really worthwhile, even though editing cost $30 per hour. Next, they decided to start a word-of-mouth phenomenon by donating about 2,000 individual promotional copies to leaders of church groups, associations of government agencies, schools and public libraries. This helped them secure free book reviews in religious newsletters and in magazines that go out to politicians and bureaucrats. The front pages of the book explain clearly how to order more copies, and the generous discounts for ordering larger quantities. Fred was a mathematician who could master their marketing mix puzzle about allocating scarce resources: they refined their product by using a professional editor over many editions, sent out samples (a form of sales promotion) to targeted groups (their public), allowed bulk discounts (pricing),

Good easy to read book on rules governing meetings. Reading about parlimentary procedure can be a real bore. This book gives one the quick important things to know. A good guide on a topic that one is not too interested until it come time to call a meeting to order.

The book is thin and exposes a limited set of rules without which anarchy becomes the hard rule. Usefull for small meetings but first of all very didactic for those who think that one have from time to time to refresh one's mind about the basics of the democratic exercise. I would like these Rules be translated and published in French. Thank you Fred and Peg.

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 level from the parliamentary right down to school boards, environmental protection groups, churches, even book clubs or social gatherings. What the Francis' have admirably succeeded in doing is cutting through the forbidding complexities of running a meeting and reducing them to a simple set of common-sense rules which anyone can follow. With this handy guide, the frustrations which accompany many meetings can be sharply reduced and democratic participation improved. Anyone who has conducted or participated in meetings and struggled with the daunting complexities of Roberts or other rule books will be thrilled at how this little book--you can read it in an hour--will smooth out the rough edges of meetings and greatly improve the harmony and satisfaction of attendees. Over the years I have presided or attended hundreds of meetings at the governmental, business, church and social levels and have often been frustrated by the difficulties of properly chairing such meetings so that all can be heard, 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 intimidated, even tyrannized sometimes, by the very few who know "Roberts" Equally distressing are meetings where the Chair is ill-informed or makes dubious rulings or is swamped by Points or Order or confusion over what are acceptable motions and amendments, when to call for a vote, and so on. By clarifying these points, the Francis' book makes an important contribution to democracy. It can be readily adopted by any group, club, church or corporation and will be of lasting benefit. Speaking personally, I have sat through years of parliamentary debate and appreciate the value, and necessity, or achieving consensus in a democratic proceeding by having rules and following them. Up until now, the rules have been exceedingly complex, often confusing, and finally 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. (Signed) Douglas Leiterman (former parliamentary correspondent)

This book is an example of how less is more. Aftering struggling with Robert's Rules of Order (700+ pages) and various synopsisses, I was over joyed to find this common sense guide to conducting meetings. In less than 34 pages it outlines and defines all the basic rules and procedures to getting things done. While book is perfect for those completely unfamiliar with parliamentrary proceedure, it helps even the more experienced by simplifying and eliminating the more esoteric rules.The second half of the small book is filled with examples and frequently asked questions to help those getting started. The book clearly represents a labor of love by a couple with decades of practical experience and a desire to help others be more productive in a democratic organization.