Awaiting the Eleventh

For the past couple of months, I have been visiting units in Texas.  I have seen a number of RONRs carried to these meetings in various binding formats -- softcover, hardcover, and spiralbound.  Beginners seem to choose the softcover because it has the lowest price.  Some like me carry the hardcover because it is more durable.  The most popular seems to be the spiralbound because it is the best for study purposes and can be easily laid flat.  I saw a number of the softcover and spiralbound formats in disarray -- tattered, torn, worn, and held together with tape and rubber bands.  The owners of these books are holding out another year because they know a new edition is forthcoming.  Why buy a soon-to-be-outdated book when a rubber band will hold your frayed folio together for a few more months?  Or is there something sentimental about that old volume that got you through a decade worth of parliamentary maizes?  Maybe all those dog-eared and tabbed pages with multi-colored highlighting and penciled notes give it the character of an old and indispensible bible? 

Unlike most bibles, which are built to last, the bindings of RONR are not so durable.  I also have a leatherbound binding which is my favorite.  It has autographs of the authors in it along with those of many of the former NAP presidents.  I have purposefully kept the pages clean and untattered by my scribblings.  I use this one as my working volume because it does not look like a copy of RONR.  Without the familiar gold cover, it wears a sophisticated disguise.  While serving as a parliamentarian, I can lay it on the table (pun intended) and casually refer to it without exposing my parliamentary hole cards.  That way, members and delegates watching the dias will not wonder "Is the parliamentarian looking up something in the book because he is bewildered or ignorant?"  Besides, the leatherbound version is classy and I want to send out that message to whoever notices that I am a really classy guy, even if I am a certified rules nerd.

Since the first of the newly-revised series appeared in 1970, a new edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised has been issued at the beginning of each decade.  The current issue is the 10th edition, published in 2000.  The author team has been working on the 11th edition for several years now.  We know that the color for this edition -- important for those of us veterans and collectors who care about how the series looks in sequence on the bookshelf -- is going to be red.

There are mixed feelings and opinions about the need for a new edition every ten years.  There are purists who wish that things would remain unchanged.  They are of the opinion that the latest edition has more than enough good material for running every possible kind of meeting (sans the legislative).  Change only causes confusion and instability, especially since most organizations do not correctly cite the latest edition as their parliamentary authority.  For example, the terms often seen in bylaws are Robert's, Robert's Rules, Robert's Rules of Order, Robert's Revised, etc.  Often at meetings, the parliamentarian will carry one version, while the presider carries another.  Keep the book the same, thinks the purist, and there will be more consistency in the halls of democracy.  How can we get everyone on the same page until we can get them to embrace the same edition?  This line of thinking is flawed if only because the old editions of Robert and Cushing are frequently resurrected in soft cover offerings.  They populate the limited shelf space available for parliamentary manuals at the major booksellers.  They are attractive to the neophyte because they are shorter in length and lower in cost than RONR.  For this reason, the naive officer or delegate tends to carry a brand new, but antiquated, paperback to meetings.

Then there is always the cynical point of view: the author team is only in it for the money.  As with Microsoft and new versions of Windows, we are forced to adopt the newest version whenever we purchase a new computer.  Now, I have often complained about having to update software, but when buying a new computer wouldn't I want the latest and greatest?  Do I really want an older, clunky operating system?  The same can be said about parliamentary manuals.  If my old book is worn and tattered, shouldn't I prefer the best information available when buying a new book?

There is debate about just how successful the RONR editions have been over time.  It has been claimed that they are among the must successful books ever sold, even though they do not appear on any of the official lists.   The Harry Potter series is now competing with the Bible and The Poems of Mao Tse Tung as one of the most successful books ever, and the Boy Scout Handbook is always high on the lists.  The Guinness Book of World Records now claims that it is among the most sucessful books ever. With updates being made daily, it has probably made more money for the Guinness Brewery than beer.  The poetry of a dead Chinese despot will never be revised, but there are newer versions being rolled out for the Bible and the Boy Scout Handbook (newest edition was published this year) and Rowling churns out the equivalent of a new edition with every subsequent novel.

Those who are concerned about lining the pockets of a wise old bachelor who lives in a monastery (i.e., Henry M. Robert III) can keep their old edition -- if it can be bandaged together.  Oscar Wilde said "a cynic is a man who know the price of everything and the value of nothing."  Enough said.

To me, the best reason for having decenary editions is the one given by the author team -- parliamentary law is like other subjects of law, it must develop with time.  Common law is usually understood today to develop according to settled case law.  In parliamentary law, however, court cases are few and far between.  Courts have opined on the role of officers, quorum requirements, bylaws, notice, and membership, but the bulk of parliamentary law has remained untouched by the scrutiny of the court.  To put it simply, lawsuits cost money and there is not much money in arguing the finer points of subsidiary or incidental motions.  It is hard to imagine someone filing a lawsuit because the presiding officer failed to ask for a second on a routine motion.  It isn't worth the money to test this in court.

Parliamentary manuals are necessary to cover the areas not under review, or that have never been reviewed, by the court.  Since all other legal subjects are able to evolve with time, so should parliamentary law.  This can only be accomplished by routinely updating the parliamentary manual.  Law books are being updated as often as judicial opinions are issued, and so we must update RONR.

The last criticism to consider is that of author team selection.  The Robert family has always controlled the selection of authors.  Isn't this a nepotistic and self-serving arrangement?  Maybe so.  The proof to me, however, is in the pudding.  The newly-revised series has been a great success and well written too.  If the author team ever fails to produce the level of quality of past editions, this may become a relevant issue.  Until then, my vote goes to Henry and the boys (i.e., Henry M. Robert III, Daniel H. Honemann, and Thomas J. "Burke" Balch).

A good place to follow the developments in RONR is the Official Website for the author team.  In the meantime, make room on your bookshelf for one more edition.  It's coming soon!