The filibuster is alive and well. And Joe Manchin has cited James Madison in his argument to keep it. James Bouie writes:
“Allowing one party to exert complete control in the Senate with only a simple majority will only pour fuel on the fire of political whiplash and dysfunction that is tearing this nation apart,” he said. “Contrary to what some have said, protecting the role of the minority — Democrat or Republican — has protected us from the volatile political swings that we have endured over the last 233 years.”
It's interesting to hear Manchin cite one of the authors of the American Constitution to defend something that was never in the constitution. Madison wrote that the Senate had two purposes:
“These were first to protect the people against their rulers, secondly to protect the people against the transient impressions into which they themselves might be led.”
At no point in this discussion was there any talk of a filibuster (a word not yet in common use) or any principle of unlimited debate. Madison’s point was that the structure of the Senate itself — its long terms of office, indirect method of election and staggered times for choosing members — would do the work in question. “A necessary fence against this danger would be to select a portion of enlightened citizens, whose limited number and firmness might seasonably interpose against impetuous counsels.”
Here’s where things get a little complicated. When Manchin and other filibuster defenders speak of protecting the “minority” in Congress, they mean a partisan minority. “Democrat or Republican,” as he said. But no one in Philadelphia had any idea of political parties, much less a partisan minority. They didn’t exist and none of the framers thought they would.
When Madison speaks of a “minority” in the context of the Senate, he means an economic interest, not an organized political faction. “In all civilized Countries,” he says, “the people fall into different classes having a real or supposed difference of interests. There will be creditors & debtors, farmers, merchants & manufacturers. There will be particularly the distinction of rich & poor.”
The Republican Party is a clear partisan minority. And it's doing everything it can to entrench minority rule. Like a lot of Americans, Manchin is ignorant of his country's history.
Image: The New York Times
