Parliamentary procedure software

Dana Dahlstrom
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, UCSD

Gunnar Ristroph
California Institute of Technology

Doug Schuler
Public Sphere Project for Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR)

Bayle Shanks
Computational Neurobiology Program, University of California, San Diego

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     Last modified: April 2, 2005

Abstract
Parliamentary procedure is a centuries-old, evolving tradition of rules and customs for group decision making. It aims for full and free discussion, safeguarding the rights of individual members and minority opinions, even in the face of intense disagreement. The best-known codification is called Robert's Rules of Order, after Henry Robert, who wrote the first popular manual on parliamentary procedure in the late-19th-century United States.

A group using parliamentary procedure, called a deliberative assembly, may have from a few to a few hundred members. Traditionally, and as described by Robert's Rules of Order, deliberative assemblies meet face-to-face. Some aspects of parliamentary procedure are oriented toward a live, in-person environment; but the underlying principles and many of the rules can be applied to decision-making groups using various other modes of communication.

Software is being developed to allow machines to assist with the administration of parliamentary rules in both online and in-person settings, for both asynchronous and live meetings. This short workshop will be an informal discussion of these efforts.

A few questions we plan to address in the workshop are:

* What parliamentary procedure software already exists? What are people working on?

* How should rules of order be modified to fit online and/or asynchronous settings? Even the simple matter of a quorum in a live meeting is not so obvious online.

* Can parliamentary procedure be used to moderate less formal online discussions?

* How do online deliberation systems fit within larger social contexts?

* How can other media (such as e-mail) be integrated with online deliberative systems?

* How should software be designed to assist in chairing, recording, or participating in deliberative assemblies?