Floor (legislative)

The floor of a legislature or chamber is the place where members sit and make speeches. When a person is speaking there formally, they are said to have the floor. The House of Commons and the House of Lords of the United Kingdom; the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate all have "floors" with established procedures and protocols.

Activity on the floor of a council or legislature, such as debate, may be contrasted with meetings and discussion which takes place in committee, for which there are often separate committee rooms.^[1] Some actions, such as the overturning of an executive veto, may only be taken on the floor.^[2]

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom's House of Commons a rectangular configuration is used with the government ministers and their party sitting on the right of the presiding Speaker and the opposing parties sitting on the benches opposite. Members are not permitted to speak between the red lines on the floor which mark the boundaries of each side. These are traditionally two sword lengths apart to mitigate the possibility of physical conflict. If a member changes allegiance between the two sides, they are said to cross the floor. Only members and the essential officers of the house such as the clerks are permitted upon the floor while parliament is in session.^[3]

United States

The two important debating floors of the U.S. Federal government are in the House of Representatives and the Senate. The rules of procedure of both floors have evolved to change the balance of power and decision making between the floors and the committees. Both floors were publicly televised by 1986. The procedures for passing legislation are quite varied with differing degrees of party, committee and conference involvement. In general, during the late 20th century, the power of the floors increased and the number of amendments made on the floor increased significantly.^[4]

Procedures

The procedures used upon legislative floors are based upon standard works which include

Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice, which was written for the UK House of Commons
Jefferson's Manual, which was written for the US Senate and was incorporated into the rules for the US House of Representatives.

Use in other assemblies

In other deliberative assemblies, the concept of a "floor" may also be used. The following work was initially based on the procedures used upon legislative floors:

Robert's Rules of Order, which was based upon the rules of the US House of Representatives and is intended for use by ordinary bodies and societies.^[5]

References

^ Robert J. McKeever (2006), Brief Introduction to US Politics, Pearson Longman, ISBN 9780582473416
^ David M. Olson (1980), The legislative process: a comparative approach, Harper & Row, p. 350, ISBN 9780060449193
^ William McKay, Charles W. Johnson (3 June 2010), Parliament and Congress: Representation and Scrutiny in the Twenty-first Century, OUP Oxford, ISBN 978-0-19-927362-1
^ Steven S. Smith (1989), Call to order: floor politics in the House and Senate, Brookings Institution, ISBN 9780815780137
^ Robert, Henry M.; et al. (2011). Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (11th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Da Capo Press. pp. xxix, xliii. ISBN 978-0-306-82020-5.

v t e Parliamentary procedure
Major concepts	History of parliamentary procedure Principles of parliamentary procedure Deliberative assembly Committee Session Quorum Chair Floor Recognition Motion Second Debate Main motion Order of business Minutes Voting methods in deliberative assemblies Majority Unanimous consent
Subsidiary motions	Postpone indefinitely Amend Commit Postpone to a certain time Limit or extend limits of debate Previous question Cloture Lay on the table
Privileged motions	Call for the orders of the day Raise a question of privilege Recess Adjourn Fix the time to which to adjourn
Incidental motions	Point of order Appeal Suspend the rules Objection to the consideration of a question Division of a question Consideration by paragraph or seriatim Division of the assembly Motions relating to methods of voting and the polls Motions relating to nominations Prayer motion Request to be excused from a duty Requests and inquiries (Parliamentary inquiry, Request for information, Request for permission to withdraw or modify a motion, Request to read papers, Request for any other privilege)
Motions that bring a question again before the assembly	Take from the table Rescind, repeal, annul or amend something previously adopted Discharge a committee Reconsider
Legislative procedures	Call of the house Hoist Motion to pass on Recall of Parliament
Disciplinary procedures	Censure Declare the chair vacant Impeach Naming
Parliamentary authorities	Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR) The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure (TSC or Sturgis) Demeter's Manual of Parliamentary Law and Procedure Riddick's Rules of Procedure Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice Jefferson's Manual Lex Parliamentaria Odgers' Australian Senate Practice House of Representatives Practice Bourinot's Rules of Order Beauchesne's Parliamentary Rules and Forms Morin code ABC of Chairmanship
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