"This book is a thoroughgoing simplification of traditional parliamentary rules. It encourages informality and proceeding by consensus whenever possible. By paring down the parliamentary code to its functional essentials, it expedites rather than hinders the transaction of business, assuring orderly debate and permitting decisive democratic action. Yet these simplified rules serve fully and well the basic needs of any democratic assembly: to assure full debate and disclosure, to protect the right of minority members to argue their case on any issue, and to permit the majority to act. Ray Keesey's writing is concise, his argument persuasive and easy to follow. Eminently practical, highly contemporary in its ideas and language, this book gives you a realistic working knowledge of how to conduct meetings without burdening you with superfluous details and complications. Complex motions and situations that cause confusion are eliminated. So are time-wasting formalities such as the unnecessary seconding of motions. The precedence of motions is made more flexible. Best of all, by stressing what is actually important in procedural matters, Barnes & Noble Book of Modern Parliamentary Procedure achieves the objective for which parliamentary rules were devised in the first place - it facilitates active and vigorous, yet orderly and democratic, participation in public meetings"--Unedited summary from book cover.