Democratic Rules of Order: Easy-To-Use Rules for Meetings of Any Size - Paperback

by Peg Francis (Author), Fred Francis (Author)

With over 20,000 copies sold, Democratic Rules of Order - 10th edition is the alternative to other unwieldy guides. Honed through thousands of meetings, it offers a complete set of easy-to-use, plain-language rules for governing democratic meetings of any size and complexity.

Back Jacket

REVOLUTIONIZE MEETINGS! Over 20,000 copies sold - the easy-to-use guide for running democratic meetings of any size

A gem of a reference book, it is practical, well-structured and is detailed and informative about meeting terminology.
-- GERRY O'SULLIVAN, facilitator, mediator, and trainer, and author, The Mediator's Toolkit

Easy to understand, easy to learn, user-friendly, logical, and efficient.
-- EDWARD E. DOUGLAS, BA, MA, past vice-president of a library board of trustees

AN ALTERNATIVE to Robert's Rules of Order and other complicated and unwieldy guides, Democratic Rules of Order is the guide for the rest of us. It lays out clear, concise, easy-to-use rules for governing meetings from clubs and non-profits to formal meetings. Benefits include:

• A complete set of laws for governing meetings
• Can be read in an hour
• Plain language, free of complex protocol and jargon to enable equal and efficient participation
• Tested and honed through thousands of successful meetings
• Adoptable as the official rules of order for meetings of any size
• Allows informality, including decisions by consensus, but ensures formality when needed
• A sample meeting that uses all the rules plus answers to 31 common questions.

Now in its tenth edition, Democratic Rules of Order will produce fair, efficient, and harmonious decisions in meetings of any size or complexity.

Tames the tangle of traditional systems such as Robert's Rules of Order, with clear principles presented in plain language and lots of helpful examples.
-- JIM RIETMULDER, author, When Kids Rule the School

Kudos to the authors for keeping a rowdy bunch of us on track.
-- PIETER VORSTER, Courtenay rugby team board member

Author Biography

Peg Francis, and her late husband Fred Francis, had decades of experience with meetings in school, college, business, church, and community organizations as members and as officers. They saw the urgent need for more justice and stronger democracies and believed that for a democracy to work successfully, the populace itself must understand and practice democratic principles. They brought their skills as former educators to bear to create a set of rules that are easy-to-learn, easy-to-use, and widely applicable in meetings and that promote democracy at a grass-roots level. Always seeking to improve, they were also entrepreneurs who have designed several commercial products including clean-burning wood stoves, rodent-proof composters, and children's building sets. Peg lives in Victoria, Canada.