Editing Parliamentary procedure (section)

===Legislatures===
Legislative assemblies in all countries, because of their nature, tend to have a specialized set of rules that differ from parliamentary procedure used by clubs and organizations.

In the United Kingdom, [[Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice|Erskine May's ''Parliamentary Practice'']] (frequently updated; originally ''Treatise on the Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Parliament''; often referred to simply as ''Erskine May'') is the accepted authority on the powers and procedures of the [[Westminster parliament]]. There are also the [[Standing orders in the Parliament of the United Kingdom|Standing Orders for each House]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Standing Orders |url=https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/standing-orders/ |website=UK Parliament}}</ref>

Of the 99 [[State legislature (United States)|state legislative chambers]] in the United States (two for each [[U.S. state|state]] except [[Nebraska]], which has a [[Unicameralism|unicameral]] legislature), ''[[Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure]]'' governs parliamentary procedures in 70; ''[[Jefferson's Manual]]'' governs 13, and ''[[Robert's Rules of Order]]'' governs four.<ref>''[https://web.archive.org/web/20191212161525/http://www.ncsl.org/research/about-state-legislatures/masons-manual-for-legislative-bodies.aspx Using Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure: The Advantages to Legislative Bodies]'', [[National Conference of State Legislatures]].</ref> The [[United States Senate]] follows the [[Standing Rules of the United States Senate]], while the [[United States House of Representatives]] follows ''Jefferson's Manual''.

''Mason's Manual'', originally written by constitutional scholar and former [[California Senate]] staff member [[Paul Mason (author)|Paul Mason]] in 1935, and since his death revised and published by the [[National Conference of State Legislatures]] (NCSL), governs legislative procedures in instances where the [[State constitution (United States)|state constitution]], [[State law (United States)|state statutes]], and the chamber's rules are silent.<ref>See, for example, ''Standing Rules of the California Assembly'', in [http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=hr_1&sess=CUR HR 1, 2007-08 Regular Session].</ref><ref name=ncsl>[http://www.ncsl.org National Conference of State Legislatures web site]</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=National Conference of State Legislatures|title=[[Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure]]|year=2000|publisher=NCSL|location=Denver, CO|isbn=1-58024-116-6}}</ref>

According to the NCSL,<ref name=ncsl/> one of the many reasons that most state legislatures use ''Mason's Manual'' instead of ''Robert's Rules of Order'' is that ''Robert's Rules'' applies best to private organizations and civic groups that do not meet in daily public sessions. ''Mason's Manual'', however, is geared specifically toward state legislative bodies.