Filibuster : obstruction and lawmaking in the U.S. Senate / Gregory J. Wawro and Eric Schickler.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wawro, Gregory J. (Gregory John)

Contributor:

Schickler, Eric, 1969-

Series:

Princeton studies in American politics.

Princeton studies in American politics : historical, international, and comparative perspectives

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Filibusters (Political science)--United States.

Filibusters (Political science).

United States. Congress. Senate--Freedom of debate.

United States.

United States. Congress. Senate--Cloture.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (326 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2006]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Parliamentary obstruction, popularly known as the "filibuster," has been a defining feature of the U.S. Senate throughout its history. In this book, Gregory J. Wawro and Eric Schickler explain how the Senate managed to satisfy its lawmaking role during the nineteenth and early twentieth century, when it lacked seemingly essential formal rules for governing debate. What prevented the Senate from self-destructing during this time? The authors argue that in a system where filibusters played out as wars of attrition, the threat of rule changes prevented the institution from devolving into parliamentary chaos. They show that institutional patterns of behavior induced by inherited rules did not render Senate rules immune from fundamental changes. The authors' theoretical arguments are supported through a combination of extensive quantitative and case-study analysis, which spans a broad swath of history. They consider how changes in the larger institutional and political context--such as the expansion of the country and the move to direct election of senators--led to changes in the Senate regarding debate rules. They further investigate the impact these changes had on the functioning of the Senate. The book concludes with a discussion relating battles over obstruction in the Senate's past to recent conflicts over judicial nominations.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

List of Tables

List of Figures

Preface

Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 2. Obstruction in Theoretical Context

Chapter 3. The Mutability of Senate Rules

Chapter 4. Where's the Pivot?

Chapter 5. Dilatory Motions and the Success of Obstruction

Chapter 6. Obstruction and the Tariff

Chapter 7. Slavery and Obstruction in the Antebellum Senate

Chapter 8. Obstruction and Institutional Change

Chapter 9. Cloture Reform Reconsidered

Chapter 10. The Impact of Cloture on the Appropriations Process

Chapter 11. Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

Backmatter

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [285]-301) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691125091

0691125090

9781400849475

1400849470

OCLC:

863037110