viii, 265 pages : 24 cm

"This accessible book explains the Senate's clash with modern democracy and effective government by exposing this chamber of Congress as a bastion of white supremacy through most of American history"--

Includes bibliographical references and index

Introduction : the Senate and American democracy -- Creating something exceptional? : power and purpose in the design of the Senate -- Equal representation : the perpetual great compromise -- Equal representation's inexorable clash with political and racial equality -- The right of the living dead : staggered terms, continuing bodies, and constitutional myths senators tell themselves and America -- The filibuster : from southern citadel to the sixty-vote Senate -- "Cooling the coffee" : more myths senators tell themselves, and the filibuster's clash with effective government and the Constitution -- The supermajority Senate curtailed : nuclear options and mushroom clouds of hypocrisy -- Conclusion : constitutional repair and reparations

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