Top Secret

1. Parliamentary Procedure Top Secret

2. Why Use Parliamentary Procedure? It is used in a wide variety of places to conduct meetings in a quick and orderly manner that is to the point. The reason is: • The minority has a voice. • Only one argument is heard at a time. • The structure allows for a fair debate, which is why we use it.

3. The Presiding Officer Asks… The presiding officer will ask many questions to the chamber during the round. These will be like: • Are there any motions on the floor? • Is there an authorship/sponsorship speech? • Is there a speech against the bill? • Is there a speech for the bill?

4. … and You Answer In each case, if you want to speak, you should: • Be ready with your evidence. • Stand up and stay standing until the presiding officer calls on someone (they may want you to keep standing to note an attempt) • Hope the presiding officer picks you. • Note: If you want to ask an INTELLIGENT question, follow the same format.

8. What the Presiding Officer Must Do • Go over recency rules- usually, people that haven’t spoken yet get first dibs. If multiple people haven’t spoken, whoever has more attempts usually gets to go first. NEVER use questions as a tiebreaker! • Open the Debate- by asking if there are any motions on the floor, (which there always will be) you will begin the debate. • Voting Methods- • Voice vote- P.O. ask: “all those in favor of…”, count the votes, then ask: “all those apposed” , count the votes. Assembly will vote by saying “aye” or “nay”. If winner is unclear or someone calls “division”,… • Rising Vote- same as before, only everybody stands when you say appropriate side.

9. Cont. • Show of hands Vote- can be used instead of rising vote. • Note: always, always, ALWAYS count affirmative votes first, then negative votes second. • Authorship/Affirmative Speeches- after a bill has been chosen for debate, ask for an authorship or affirmative (“is there an authorship speech?”, “is there an affirmative speech?”). ALL speeches are 3 minutes, with remaining time going to defray cross ex. time, which is 1.5 minutes long. Note: DON’T EVER EXTEND CROSS-EX TIME! It wastes time that could be spent on speeches. Trust me, I know. • Negative Speeches- after an aff. speech and cross. ex. is over, ask: “are there any speeches against the bill?”. Pick someone, and follow speech and cross. ex. format from above. NOTE: always mark attempts for speeches on seating chart.

10. Cont. • Cycles- cycles consist of 1 aff. and 1 neg. speech. At the end of each cycle, ask if there are any motions, and if not, open for another cycle. DO NOT allow debate to continue if everybody is repeating arguments. • Previous Question- this means it’s time to vote on the bill. If 2/3 of the assembly votes for previous question, you need to take another vote on the bill itself, which needs a majority to pass. • Open New Bill or End Session- move to a new bill, or end session if time limit has been reached or exceeded. • Be Fair- you are required to be fair, smart, and confident whenever you need to decide something. Don’t favor anybody, or let the debate drag on for the sake of one of your teammates.

11. Bills

12. What Are These Bills? Bills are the source of debate. They are what you base your arguments off of. You need bills to debate, and in most all cases you will need to provide them.

13. Bill Template Title of Bill Here Be it enacted by the Congress here assembled that: Section I: Administration (What body implements the action) Section II: Mandates (What the bill does) Section III: Funding/Enforcement (What your bill will be funded by and how it will be enforced) Section IV: Housekeeping (Declare legislation against this bill null and void) Section V: Date (When the bill goes into effect)

14. Conclusion This should provide you with enough info. for writing bills and Parliamentary Procedure. This PowerPoint is done!