parliamentarian

n.

1. One who is expert in parliamentary procedures, rules, or debate.
2. A member of a parliament.
3. Parliamentarian A supporter of the Long Parliament during the English Civil War and the Commonwealth; a Roundhead.

The rules of the Senate and House are few in number, but the precedents—the previous actions of the two bodies and the rulings of their presiding officers—are voluminous. The accumulated precedents serve as guides for future actions. In order to operate properly within the boundaries of these precedents, and to plan strategies for passing or defeating legislation, the Senate and House each appoint staff members to serve as parliamentarians.

Before the 1920s various clerks kept track of the rules and precedents and offered advice to the presiding officers. In 1928 Speaker Nicholas Longworth appointed Lewis Deschler as the first House parliamentarian. It was a tribute to Deschler's nonpartisanship that he continued in the job until 1974, through both Republican and Democratic majorities. In 1937 Charles Watkins became the Senate's first official parliamentarian, and he, too, remained in his post under both parties until his retirement in 1964.

“Ventriloquists”

The parliamentarian sits at the front desk, immediately below the presiding officer. When a question about some matter of parliamentary procedure arises from the floor, the presiding officer leans over and consults the parliamentarian. Because the presiding officers invariably announce aloud exactly what the parliamentarians have just whispered, the parliamentarians have been called the “ventriloquists” of the House and Senate. But presiding officers have learned the wisdom of following the parliamentarian's advice. Those who ignore the parliamentarian and rule differently face being overridden by a majority vote of the House or Senate. Some members of Congress rely entirely on the parliamentarian for advice, while others study the rules and precedents independently and win recognition on Capitol Hill for their mastery of parliamentary procedure. These members are often members of the minority who can be especially effective in using their knowledge of the rules to block passage of legislation that the majority favors.

The parliamentarians are responsible for publishing the collected precedents of their chamber so that members and staff can become aware of them. Recently, the precedents have also been compiled in computers, and terminals have been installed at the front desks, giving the parliamentarians much faster access. Parliamentarians try to avoid taking sides in parliamentary disputes, and they offer advice to the leaders and members of both parties.

See also Parliamentary procedure; Precedents, congressional; Rules of the House and Senate

Sources

• Floyd M. Riddick and Alan S. Frumin, Riddick's Senate Procedure: Precedents and Practices (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1992)

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Common misspelling(s) of parliamentarian

• paliamentarian

Dansk (Danish)
n. - parlamentstilhænger, parlamentariker
adj. - parlamentarisk

Nederlands (Dutch)
parlementariër, tijdens Engelse burgeroorlog aanhanger van parlement

Français (French)
n. - parlementaire, expert des procédures parlementaires
adj. - parlementaire

Deutsch (German)
n. - Parlamentarier
adj. - parlamentarisch

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - πεπειραμένος βουλευτής

Italiano (Italian)
parlamentare

Português (Portuguese)
n. - parlamentar (m)

Русский (Russian)
парламентарий, парламентский

Español (Spanish)
n. - parlamentario
adj. - del parlamento

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - parlamentariker

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
议事法规专家, 国会议员, 议会的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 議事法規專家, 國會議員
adj. - 議會的

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 의회법 학자, 영국 하원 의원
adj. - 의회의, 정치의, 의회파의

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 議院法学者, 下院議員
adj. - 議会の

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) خبير نيابي, البرلماني : خبير في الإجراءات البرلمانيه أو النقاش البرلماني‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮חבר פרלמנט, בד"כ מנוסה‬
adj. - ‮של פרלמנט‬

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