The weird rule that broke American politics
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Published 2019-06-17
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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: www.vox.com/2019/3/5/18241447/filibuster-reform-ex…
* Ezra Klein dispels some myths about the filibuster: www.vox.com/2015/5/27/18089312/myths-about-the-fil…
* The book “Politics of Principle?” from Sarah Binder and Steven Smith from the Brookings Institution, really helped me understand the Senate filibuster: www.brookings.edu/book/politics-or-principle/
* 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: www.amazon.com/Filibustering-Political-Obstruction…
* Lastly, this article from the Stanford Law Review answered some basic questions about the Senate filibuster: scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?artic…
"Note: The headline for this video has been updated since publishing.
Previous headline: How the filibuster broke the US senate
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All Comments (21)
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Hope everyone enjoys the video! Do filibusters undermine or support democracy? Let us know what you think in the comments! And if you want to help us make even more videos like this, the best way to do that is by becoming a Video Lab member: bit.ly/vox-video-membership.
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Vox : These 100 people.They are the US Senate, they pass laws. US Senate: We don’t do that here.
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“They can gain more politically by fighting than by cooperating.” Truer words have never been uttered.
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"It all kinda happened by accident" Like everything else in america
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Majority party: "OK so it's decided: We wi-" Minority part: "According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way that a bee should be able to fly."
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Majority party: breathes Minority party: I'm going to have to filibuster that
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Filibuster, gerrymandering, electoral college... american politics is everything but easy.
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Fun fact: The filibuster has been around since the Roman Republic. Also, probably the most consequential filibuster in world history also happened in the Roman Republic. In 59 BC, during Julius Caesar's term as consul (basically a dual presidency that lasts for one year), Caesar was trying to get a bill passed through the Roman Senate that needed to get through quickly because of the way the government worked. Problem was, a politician called Cato the Younger started to filibuster the bill. Caesar ordered his arrest in a fit of rage. While he did have the authority to do that as Consul, he got a lot of immediate backlash from other senators who jumped to Cato's side. The arrest never went anywhere, but it was one of the main reasons for Caesar marching on Rome with his armies and being declared an enemy of Rome. How that filibuster and the subsequent order to arrest Cato caused Roman civil war is complicated, but I would urge anyone to look it up, it's really interesting.
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I’d like to vote on a bill. Ted Cruz: I do not like them Sam-I-Am. I do not like green eggs and ham.
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"This is the way we've always done it." - The most dangerous sentence in the English language.
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Damn it Aaron Burr. Back at it again ruining lives...
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Funny how filibusters became more common right after the Civil Rights Act was passed.
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I love how you guys simulate speech among senators, its funny and it somehow is perfect
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Ahh yes, America. Where if I don’t agree with you and get my way, I’m gonna pout and waste your time so we both don’t get what we want.
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This is why George Washington warned us about political parties
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The senate: we should let black people have rig- Strom Thurmond: NO
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Majority Party: Lets End The Filibus- Minority Party: What Did You Say? FILIBUSTERED
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“Burr wanted more debate in the Senate.” So much for talk less, smile more.
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Random senator during debate: "blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah" I approve of this depiction of the Senate.
