Filibuster

What is the Filibuster?

Introduction

The filibuster is that the remaining part of the most topical and contentious phenomena in the sphere of legislative politics that is studied not only in the United States but also all over the world but mainly in the United States Senate. Built on the concept of post-debate, the filibuster enables a minority to hinder or stall a process of legislative business unless the supermajority consents. As essential in compromise and legislative negotiation; it has also been used by the politically dominant party in stoning the legislative processes thus forging political stalemate. In this article, there is an aim to discuss the background of the filibuster discussion of its relevance in current political realities, the ways it works, and the never-ending change or abolishment discussion.

 Historical Aspect

As it will be recalled there is no mention of the filibusters in the United States Constitution. Actually, the Founding Fathers did not envison the Senate with the filibuster as part of the system. The tuition fee model arose quite by evolution in the early nineteenth century. At first, both the House of Representatives and the Senate had identical provisions that governed how a debate on some subject could be brought to a close. But then, in 1806, the Senate had to change its rules and cancel the rule that made further debate easy to shut down, accidentally thus creating what we now know as a filibuster.

Filibusters of that kind were relatively rare in parliamentary practice for the rest of the 19th century. The authors also pointed out that senators generally complied with the norm of timely conclusion of debate, nearly all the time. Real filibustering did not start until towards the onset of the progressive movement in the early years of the twentieth century. Cooperatives originated when some senators stopped supporting President Woodrow Wilson’s war policy in 1917 and one day, Wilson just got tired of them. The Senate then adopted Rule 22 that created cloture that is a process through which filibuster may or cans be brought to end through an agreed vote of two-third majority. This way, free access developed into the present threshold of 60 of one hundred senators as nowadays.

How the Filibuster Works

A filibuster is a situation where one or several senators propose and maintain a right to continue a debate in order to prevent a vote on legislation. The Senate also does not have formal procedural rules pertaining to how long a senator may speak for–that is, per the US House of Representatives, theoretically a senator can speak without interruption until a cloture vote is called.

Sterm tharmand is an excellent example of a filibuster, who made a record speech to ensure he delayed the civil rights act of 1957. From the US constitution to his mom’s biscuit recipe read in 24 hours and 18 minutes so as to delay the passage of the bill.

In classical sense a filibuster was time consuming and tense, with senators delivering their speeches for days on end. But today, the filibuster has evolved, and is hence a more process-related technique. These days, senators can usually signal that they’re prepared to filibuster; if the majority party hasn’t got 60 votes for cloture, the bill is deemed to have been obstructed, even if no lengthy address has been given.

Chapters IV and V presented the Filibuster and its role in the legislative process. Henderson points out that filibustering has been regarded as an instrument for safeguarding the rights of a minority in the Senate. Because it can be repealed only with 60 votes, the majority party is compelled to bargain with the minority party, or at least, a minority large enough to vote for or join the majority so as to give them the necessary number of votes. This can even Paralyze the process of passing new laws but it also protects the rights of the few or group of people in the society and ensures that the ruling party or government cannot pass laws with much ease.

And of course, the use of the filibuster became broader in recent decades and became the weapon not only for the compromise but for the obstruction. Originally used a once in a blue moon and on sensitive subjects only, the modern filibuster has lead to stagnation in the Senate. This has especially been the case in recent years due to polarised politics and a highly polarised senate.

There is no place where the filibuster has been more felt than in the nomination of judges to the federal bench. Traditionally, a filibuster employed thwarting or postponing the confirmation of judges especially to the Supreme Court. Further, in 2013, Senate Democrats exhausted from Republican constant stalling on President Obama judicial nominees decided to scrap the filibuster for most nominees. Later, in 2017, Republican senators again expanded this change to also cover Supreme Court nominees, so that Gorsuch could be approved by simple vote.

The Debate Over the Filibuster For countless years, an answer that comes as no surprise to many scholars in the realm of law and politics is the control over the filibuster has long been a property of the Senate minority party.” The filibuster debate has been fairly passionate on both sides of the argument

Procedures in Support of the Filibuster

Most of the ardent supporters of filibuster have argued that they promote the rights of the minority in the Senate. They argue that without the filibuster majority party could simply ram through legislation that is unkind to the minority. This would result in even more drastic measures been implemented and erode the concept of Senate as a house of sober second thought.

Some of its supporters are convinced that the filibuster helps the Senate to be bipartisan but this is not true. The rules call for 60 votes to end a filibuster; thus, the majority party has to negotiate with the minority party getting more moderate and approved bills. In this view the filibuster acts as brake on the power of the majority and ensures equal broadcast in the course of formulating legislation.

How and Why They Speak:Arguments Against the Filibuster

Arguments in Favor of the Filibuster

According to supporters, filibustering is a great way to guard the interests of the minority in the Senate. They argue that in their view if the Senate did not have the filibuster, the party in the majority could ramrod legislation forward without any regard for the opposition of the minority. This would lead to even more radical measures and deal a blow to the Senate, whose job it is to reach a consensus.

More to it, the use of the filibuster is also applauded because of its ability to foster bipartisan collaboration. That is because in order to invoke a cloture and end a filibuster, the majority party requires sixty votes, therefore the majority party is compelled to bargain with the minority party, and this results in passing of legislation that are more reasonable, or with much wider support. In this perspective therefore, filibuster is another tool of the legislature aimed at limiting the power of majority and ensuring proportional representation.

Arguments Against the Filibuster

Opposition to the Filibuster

More criticism has however been leveled against the filibuster sitting judgement that it hampers the flow of work in the Senate. Some of them argue that Senators have lately relied on the filibuster rule, which hampers legislative progress and has strangled the Senate’s capacity to pass bold laws.

Opponents also said that the filibuster is undemocratic because it means the few prevent the many from getting a law that they desire. In a house of the Senate, each state has 2 senators regardless of the population size thus, it can be that senators representing a small fraction of the American population can frustrate the passage of legislation that the majority of the population would want.

Lastly, critics assert that the filibuster is un-Senate like concerning the framers’ intentions when they set up the Senate. The Founding Fathers never mentioned the filibuster in the Constitution and it was also never a part of the design of how the Senate was to function, as it was design to proceed with the majority rule. They mostly explain the filibuster as the product of another change in Senate rules, and so, attempts at reformist change or a complete abolition of the filibuster will help return the Senate to order.

The Future of the Filibuster

Some policy-related questions related to the subject remain as follows; In recent years there had been certain demands to either alter or remove the filibuster especially from the democrat party since the republican party has been identified as the party that often frustrates democrat legislative agenda. Some have suggested going back to a ‘talking filibuster,’ which means a senator cannot just threaten a filibuster to prevent the passage of legislation, that a senator has to take the floor physically to express his/her opposition.

Some would like to completely abolish it at least for certain types of appropriations bills, as discussed in the previous section of this paper. For instance, one side has proposed that the filibuster be done away with when it comes to votes on bills concerning voting rights or, at the very least, the climate change crisis.

Conclusion

Filibuster is perhaps one of the most important and at the same time debated rules in the U.S. Senate. Although it has the abilities to guard minority interests and ensure cross-party cooperation, this body aspect has turned into a punt of blockade making Senate ineffectual. Thus, as the debate of the fate of the filibuster goes on, its future will greatly determine the capacity of Congress in meeting crucial needs of the nation. Regardless of the final outcome with the filibuster, its impact in qualifying the character of the legislative process, is or will remain a contentious issue.

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