Filibustering: A Political History of Obstruction in the House and Senate

Format: Paperback Language: English ISBN: 0226449653 ISBN13: 9780226449654 Release Date: June 2010 Publisher: University of Chicago Press Length: 272 Pages Weight: 0.75 lbs. Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.9" x 8.9" In the modern Congress, one of the highest hurdles for major bills or nominations is gaining the sixty votes necessary to shut off a filibuster in the Senate. But this wasn't always the case. Both citizens and scholars tend to think of the legislative process as a game played by the rules in which votes are the critical commodity--the side that has the most votes wins. In this comprehensive volume, Gregory Koger shows, on the contrary, that filibustering is a game with slippery rules in which legislators who think fast and try hard can triumph over superior numbers.Filibustering explains how and why obstruction has been institutionalized in the U.S. Senate over the last fifty years, and how this transformation affects politics and policymaking. Koger also traces