Senate Republican Radicalism and the Need for Filibuster Reform
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Steven S. Smith
Steven S. Smith is the Kate M. Gregg Professor of Social Sciences and Professor of Political Science at Washington University. He is the author or coauthor of
The American Congress ,Committees in Congress ,Party Influence in Congress, Call to Order: Floor Politics in the House and Senate ,Managing Uncertainty in the House of Representatives: Adaptation and Innovation in Special Rules ,Politics or Principle: Filibustering in the United States Senate ,The Politics of Institutional Choice: The Formation of the Russian State Duma , and a forthcoming book,Steering the Senate: The Development of Party Leadership in the U.S. Senate .
Abstract
The case for reform of the filibuster practice in the Senate is much stronger now than a few decades ago. The emergence of conservative populism and radical Republican strategies in the Senate has created more serious consequences for the Senate’s traditional rules and practices. This essay draws a clear connection between conservative populism, the strategies of Senate Republicans, and legislative gridlock in the Senate. It concludes with a review of the arguments of Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema against reform and argues that they fail to account for how conservative populism has so thoroughly changed their institution.
About the author
Steven S. Smith is the Kate M. Gregg Professor of Social Sciences and Professor of Political Science at Washington University. He is the author or coauthor of The American Congress, Committees in Congress, Party Influence in Congress, Call to Order: Floor Politics in the House and Senate, Managing Uncertainty in the House of Representatives: Adaptation and Innovation in Special Rules, Politics or Principle: Filibustering in the United States Senate, The Politics of Institutional Choice: The Formation of the Russian State Duma, and a forthcoming book, Steering the Senate: The Development of Party Leadership in the U.S. Senate.
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© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Introduction: Volume 19 No. 4: The US Senate
- Articles
- The Rising Electoral Role of Polarization & Implications for Policymaking in the United States Senate: Assessing the Consequences of Polarization in the Senate from 1914–2020
- Senate Republican Radicalism and the Need for Filibuster Reform
- The Distortions and Realities of the Senate’s Constitutional Purpose: Setting the Record Straight on “Senate Exceptionalism”
- “A Free-Range Chicken that Can Run Wherever the Majority Wants It To”: Budget Reconciliation and the Contemporary U.S. Senate
- Nomination Struggles in the Post-nuclear Senate
- Marching (Senate Style) Towards Majority Rule
- One Obstacle among Many: The Filibuster and Majority Party Agendas
- Get Out of the Way: Joe Biden, the U.S. Congress, and Executive-Centered Partisanship During the President’s First Year in Office
- Book Reviews
- Adam Hilton: Review of True Blues: The Contentious Transformation of the Democratic Party
- Angie Maxwell and Todd Shields: The Long Southern Strategy: How Chasing White Voters in the South Changed American Politics
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Introduction: Volume 19 No. 4: The US Senate
- Articles
- The Rising Electoral Role of Polarization & Implications for Policymaking in the United States Senate: Assessing the Consequences of Polarization in the Senate from 1914–2020
- Senate Republican Radicalism and the Need for Filibuster Reform
- The Distortions and Realities of the Senate’s Constitutional Purpose: Setting the Record Straight on “Senate Exceptionalism”
- “A Free-Range Chicken that Can Run Wherever the Majority Wants It To”: Budget Reconciliation and the Contemporary U.S. Senate
- Nomination Struggles in the Post-nuclear Senate
- Marching (Senate Style) Towards Majority Rule
- One Obstacle among Many: The Filibuster and Majority Party Agendas
- Get Out of the Way: Joe Biden, the U.S. Congress, and Executive-Centered Partisanship During the President’s First Year in Office
- Book Reviews
- Adam Hilton: Review of True Blues: The Contentious Transformation of the Democratic Party
- Angie Maxwell and Todd Shields: The Long Southern Strategy: How Chasing White Voters in the South Changed American Politics
