This award-winning study of today's filibuster debate provides a historical overview of Senate rules and an updated analysis of recent controversies.

In an age of increasingly divided partisan politics, many argue that the Senate filibuster is undemocratic or even unconstitutional. Recent legislative disputes have brought criticism of Senate rules into sharp relief, and demands for abolition or reform of the filibuster have increased. In Defending the Filibuster, two experts on Senate procedure-a veteran Senate aide and a former Senate Parliamentarian-argue that the filibuster is fundamental to protecting the rights of the minority in American politics. Richard A. Arenberg and Robert B. Dove provide an instructive historical overview of the development of Senate rules, describe related procedures and tactics, and argue passionately for measured reforms.

Thoroughly updated, this edition includes a new chapter recounting the events of 2012-13 that led to the first invocation of the "nuclear option" to restrict the use of the filibuster for presidential nominations, as well as a new foreword by former US Senator Olympia Snowe. The authors offer a stimulating assessment of the likelihood of further changes in Senate procedure and make their own proposals for reform.

Richard A. Arenberg served in senior congressional staff positions for 34 years as aide to Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell and Senators Paul Tsongas and Carl Levin. He is Adjunct Lecturer in Political Science and Public Policy at Brown University. Robert B. Dove is Parliamentarian Emeritus of the US Senate, having served as the Senate's Parliamentarian and Assistant Parliamentarian from 1966 to 2001. He is Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, George Washington University, and George Mason University.

Foreword by Senator Olympia Snowe Preface 1. Soul of the Senate 2. Filibuster, Cloture, and Unfettered Amendment 3. History of the Filibuster 4. Polarized Politics and the Use and Abuse of the Filibuster 5. Criticisms of the Filibuster 6. The Dangers of Overzealous Reform 7. Related Tactics: Holds 8. Related Tactics: Filling the Amendment Tree 9. Circumventing the Filibuster: Reconciliation 10. Reforming the Filibuster: The Constitutional Option 11. Reforming the Filibuster: The Nuclear Option 12. Bring in the Cots 13. Defending the Filibuster 14. Looking Ahead Notes Selected Bibliography Index