Senate Rules and the Civil Rights Bill: A Case Study

Howard E. Shuman

American Political Science Review, 1957, vol. 51, issue 4, 955-975

Abstract: The rules of the Senate of the United States are only 40 in number and comprise only 49 of the 832 pages of the Senate Manual. Yet, when literally invoked they can bring Senate business to a standstill. They are most often ignored or circumvented by unanimous consent in order that the Senate may operate conveniently as a deliberative and parliamentary body. To pass legislation when they are invoked is a formidable enterprise.Just as the law is said to be no better than the procedures by which it is carried out, so the substance of legislation is shaped and modified by the procedures that may be required under the Senate rules, or by the mere threat to invoke those procedures, for they are compelling. The procedures preceding and surrounding the passage of the first civil rights bill in over 80 years illumine and illustrate the effect of the rules on the substance of legislation as have few other legislative controversies in recent years.

Date: 1957
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