| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
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a good number of measures otherwise headed for enactment have been derailed by successful filibusters, although this conclusion does not take into consideration that this number is miniscule relative to the total number of measures considered by the Senate over the course of its history.
Criticisms of the Filibuster
Criticisms of filibustering take many forms. Some critics allege that the filibuster is an anti-majoritarian procedure that is not provided for in either the Standing Rules of the Senate or the U.S. Constitution. These critics complain further that the practice of unlimited debate exists by custom and precedent alone. Beeman (1968, 420) has written: “The filibuster became a part of Senate practice only after precedents had been accepted allowing senators the widest possible latitude in debate. Final acceptance did not come until 1856, after a half century of confusion and controversy over interpretation of Senate rules.” Senators themselves have, from time to time, complained that the chamber's formal rules are routinely ignored in favor of precedents and customs. As former U.S. senator Hubert Humphrey wrote in 1950 (658): “Mutual respect, tradition, custom, courtesy, forbearance, honorable obligation have been the unwritten rules of the Senate over the years.”
Still other criticisms of Senate filibusters are linked to broader disparagement of the Senate's labyrinthine legislative procedures in general. Such criticism frequently also makes reference to the informal nature of Senate debates and the fact that virtually anything is possible—from the introduction of non-germane information to switching from the Senate's legislative calendar to its executive calendar—provided that no one objects. Another frequent complaint by these critics regards the supermajority vote requirement in order to end a filibuster. Richard S. Beth and Stanley Bach, Congressional Research Service specialists on congressional procedure, noted, “…there is no motion by which a simple majority of the Senate can stop a debate and allow the Senate to vote in favor of an amendment, a bill or resolution, or any other debatable question” (Beth and Bach 2003, “Summary”). These complaints suggest that