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previous question

 
Dictionary: previous question

n.
The motion in parliamentary procedure to take an immediate vote on the main question being considered or on any other questions so designated.


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US Government Guide: previous question
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The previous question is a procedural device used in the House of Representatives to limit debate and avoid potentially damaging amendments by a bill's opponents. Managers of a bill can make a motion calling for the previous question—"question” in this case meaning the bill being debated. If the motion passes, no further amendments can be introduced and the House must vote on the original bill. Although the House permits this parliamentary tactic, the Senate has resisted it. Senate rules have traditionally been more tolerant of the minority and make it more difficult to cut off debate. Rather than needing a majority vote (51 percent) for the previous question, the Senate must achieve a three-fifths vote (60 percent) to invoke cloture and cut off debate.

See also Cloture; Motions, parliamentary; Parliamentary procedure

WordNet: previous question
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a motion calling for an immediate vote on the main question under discussion by a deliberative assembly


Wikipedia: Previous question
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Previous question, in parliamentary procedure (also known as calling for the question, calling the question, close debate and other terms) is a motion to end debate, and the moving of amendments, on any debatable or amendable motion and bring that motion to an immediate vote.

Explanation and Use

It is often invoked by a member saying, "I call [for] the question."

Previous question (RONR)
Class Subsidiary motion
In order when another has the floor No
Second Yes
Debatable No
Amendable No
Vote Required Two-thirds
Reconsider Yes, but if vote was affirmative, only before any vote has been taken under it. A negative vote on this motion can be reconsidered only until such time as progress in business or debate has made it essentially a new question.

Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR)

Under Robert's Rules of Order and other parliamentary authorities, when a call for the question is made, a two-thirds vote is required to end debate. The motion for the previous question itself is not debatable.

The Standard Code (TSC)

The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure criticizes the "previous question" terminology as being confusing, and instead calls this motion the motion to close debate, the motion to vote immediately, or the motion to close debate and vote immediately.[1] Regardless of the terminology, a two-thirds vote is required to end debate.

Legislative Use

In legislative bodies, this concept is frequently referred to as cloture. The number of votes required for cloture varies, for example in the United States Senate, the vote required is three-fifths of the total number of Senators. Additionally, cloture in the U.S. Senate does not immediately end debate on the pending question, but rather imposes strict limitations on debate. It is therefore more akin to the motion to limit debate found in Robert's Rules, than the motion for the previous question.

  1. ^ AIP; Sturgis, Alice F. (2001). The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure (4th ed. ed.). p. 235. 



 
 

 

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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
US Government Guide. The Oxford Guide to the United States Government. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2002 by John J. Patrick, Richard M. Pious, Donald M. Ritchie. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Previous question" Read more