Question: What meeting system is a widely used manual of parliamentary procedure in the United States?
Context: Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure, commonly referred to as Mason's Manual, is the official parliamentary authority of most state legislatures in the United States.  This 700+ page book has been "Adopted as the authority on questions of parliamentary law and procedure in California, it is to legislatures what Robert's Rules of Order is to club groups.  Gleaned from court decisions and legislative precedents, salted by practical experience, it is... [used] by legislatures throughout the U.S. and its territories.  Adopted by the parliament of India and Pakistan." Cloture (US: ; British: ), closure, or, informally, a guillotine is a motion or process in parliamentary procedure aimed at bringing debate to a quick end.  The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken.  "Clôture" is French for "fence".  It was introduced into the Parliament of the United Kingdom by William Ewart Gladstone to overcome the obstructionism of the Irish Parliamentary Party and was made permanent in 1887.  It was subsequently adopted by the United States Senate and other legislatures.  The name "cloture" remains in the United States; in Commonwealth countries it is usually "closure" or, informally, "guillotine"; in the United Kingdom "closure" and "guillotine" are distinct motions. Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, commonly referred to as Robert’s Rules of Order (or simply Robert’s Rules), is the most widely used manual of parliamentary procedure in the United States.  It governs the meetings of a diverse range of organizations—including church groups, county commissions, homeowners associations, nonprofit associations, professional societies, school boards, and trade unions—that have adopted it as their parliamentary authority. There are many such systems, of which one of the best-known is probably Robert's Rules of Order, which is applied in parliamentary debate and corporate meetings in many English-speaking countries.  Also well-known is the cross-examination debate applied in both criminal law and civil law.  Much innovation in meeting systems has come from objection to these two basic models, notably because both reflect an adversarial process. Ratification is a principal's approval of an act of its agent where the agent lacked authority to legally bind the principal.  Ratification defines the international act whereby a state indicates its consent to be bound to a treaty if the parties intended to show their consent by such an act.  In the case of bilateral treaties, ratification is usually accomplished by exchanging the requisite instruments, while in the case of multilateral treaties the usual procedure is for the depositary to collect the ratifications of all states, keeping all parties informed of the situation.  The institution of ratification grants states the necessary time-frame to seek the required approval for the treaty on the domestic level and to enact the necessary legislation to give domestic effect to that treaty.  The term applies to private contract law, international treaties, and constitutions in federations such as the United States and Canada.  The term is also used in parliamentary procedure in deliberative assemblies. Henry Martyn Robert (May 2, 1837 – May 11, 1923) was an American soldier, engineer, and author.  In 1876, Robert published the first edition of his manual of parliamentary procedure, "Robert's Rules of Order", which remains today the most common parliamentary authority in the United States. According to "Robert's Rules of Order", a widely used guide to parliamentary procedure, a meeting is a gathering of a group of people to make decisions.  This sense of "meeting" may be different from the general sense in that a meeting in general may not necessarily be conducted for the purpose of making decisions. The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure (formerly the "Sturgis Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure" by Alice Sturgis) is a book of rules of order.  It is the second most popular parliamentary authority in the United States after Robert's Rules of Order.  It was first published in 1950.  Following the death of the original author in 1988, the third (1988) and fourth (2001) editions of this work were revised by a committee of the American Institute of Parliamentarians.  In April 2012, a new book, entitled "American Institute of Parliamentarians Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure" (AIPSC) was released. Riddick's Rules of Procedure is a parliamentary authority - a book explaining the parliamentary procedure, including the rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings and other operations of the United States Senate.  It was written by Floyd M. Riddick and co-authored by Miriam Butcher.  The book is based on Riddick's experience as parliamentarian of the Senate as well as the procedures of assemblies using parliamentary manuals such as "Robert's Rules of Order", and is arranged in a glossary style. A Manual of Parliamentary Practice for the Use of the Senate of the United States, written by Thomas Jefferson in 1801, is the first American book on parliamentary procedure.  As Vice President of the United States, Jefferson served as the Senate's presiding officer from 1797 to 1801.  Throughout these four years, Jefferson worked on various texts and, in early 1800, started to assemble them into a single manuscript for the Senate's use.  In December 1800 he delivered his manuscript to printer Samuel Harrison Smith, who delivered the final product to Jefferson on 27 February 1801.
Answer: Robert's Rules of Order