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The weird rule that broke American politics

Vox 30



The filibuster started as an accident. Today it lets the losers rule Congress.

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The US Senate is supposed to pass laws. But today, it’s broken. And it’s broken because of something called the filibuster, which has been part of Senate tradition for over 200 years. But the filibuster came into being by accident. And today, some politicians are suggesting we should get rid of it entirely.

Further reading:

* My colleague Matt Yglesias does a great job breaking down the 2020 Democrats’ debate over the filibuster:

* Ezra Klein dispels some myths about the filibuster:

* The book “Politics of Principle?” from Sarah Binder and Steven Smith from the Brookings Institution, really helped me understand the Senate filibuster:

* The book “Filibustering: A Political History of Obstruction in the House and Senate” from Gregory Koger, a University of Miami political scientist, puts the filibuster in a broader context:

* Lastly, this article from the Stanford Law Review answered some basic questions about the Senate filibuster:

“Note: The headline for this video has been updated since publishing.
Previous headline: How the filibuster broke the US senate

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30 comments
@skittle129

The Senate when it comes to actually need to pass a law, and they can't filibuster:😭😭😭

@johnbertram1537

Ask what is means to be a democratic republic

@icecoldrugby

Hey, remember when Sanders won the primary and Dems were like, "nah."

@icecoldrugby

Vox, "what does it mean to be a democracy?"

America, "this is a republic."

@ace8448

Lets change the rules so we can get what we want… Democrats right now

@christianhoffman7407

The Senate already has minority rule baked into it's very existence. The 600k in Wyoming shouldn't count as much as the 40M in California. That is nuts. These rules were written for a time when states were seen much differently as they are today.

@Vox

Hope everyone enjoys the video! Do filibusters undermine or support democracy? Let us know what you think in the comments!

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