The Chatham House Rule is a system for holding discussions on potentially controversial topics, particularly in politics and public affairs.
At a meeting held under the Chatham House Rule, you are free to use information from the discussion, but you are not allowed to reveal who specifically provided it.
The rule is intended to increase openness of debate. It also allows individuals to speak for themselves and not necessarily for affiliated organizations.
Specifically, the rule states:
When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed.
The rule is invoked by the host of the meeting stating up front that the meeting is operating under the Chatham House Rule. Of course, the effectiveness of the rule relies on trust and sometimes requires disciplinary action, such as exclusion of the violating participant from future meetings.
The rule is essentially a compromise between private meetings, where revealing what was said is forbidden, and on the record events where the discussion is usually attributed to the speakers.
As a result, it is typically not used in an official setting where public meetings of lawmakers and government officials must be open to the public.
The rule is named after the headquarters of the U.K. Royal Institute of International Affairs, based in Chatham House, London, where the rule originated in June 1927. The rule was refined in 1992 and 2002. The Chatham House building was once the home to three British Prime Ministers.
The rule has also been translated into several languages.
Use of “Chatham House Rule” in a sentence
- To foster open dialogue and the sharing of sensitive information, the organizers decided to conduct the political roundtable under the Chatham House Rule, ensuring the confidentiality of the participants.
- The Chatham House Rule, by allowing attendees to share information disclosed during the meeting without revealing the identity of the speaker, provides a safe space for frank discussion on contentious political issues.
- By adhering to the Chatham House Rule, the policy forum enabled politicians, activists, and experts to engage in candid discussions, thus nurturing a more informed and collaborative approach to the challenges at hand.
Taegan Goddard is the creator of the Political Dictionary.
He is also the founder of many popular political websites, including Political Wire, Political Job Hunt and the Electoral Vote Map.
Goddard spent more than a decade on Wall Street as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he also served as a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won – Now What?: How Americans Can Make Democracy Work from City Hall to the White House, a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties.
His essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers and magazines across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University.
He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.