Once known as “the world’s greatest deliberative body,” the Senate has become one of the greatest threats to our democracy. Although they do not represent a majority of Americans-and will not for the foreseeable future-today’s Republican senators possess the power to block most legislation. ' excellent, surprising new book.'A truly excellent book… blistering and persuasive.” -Ezra Klein, New York TimesĪn insider’s account of how politicians representing a radical white minority of Americans have used “the world’s greatest deliberative body” to hijack our democracy.Įvery major decision governing our diverse, majority-female, and increasingly liberal country bears the stamp of the United States Senate, an institution controlled by people who are almost exclusively white, overwhelmingly male, and disproportionately conservative.'Careful and thorough and exacting.' -Michael Tomasky, New York Review of Books.'Jentleson understands the inner workings of the institution, down to the most granular details, showing precisely how arcane procedural rules can be leveraged to dramatic effect.' -Jennifer Szalai, New York Times.Featuring a new epilogue on filibuster battles under the Biden administration, Kill Switch will remain an essential warning about the costs of empowering this nation's right-wing minority. A revelatory history of minority rule in America as expressed through the Senate filibuster, Kill Switch shows that white conservatives have long relied on the filibuster-which is not featured in the Constitution, and which, as Jentleson demonstrates, the Framers would have opposed-to shut down attempts to create a multiracial democracy. Yet as Adam Jentleson shows, the problem not only goes back to the nineteenth century, but is less about the presidency than it is about our nation's most venerated institution: the United States Senate. Our democracy is under assault from homegrown authoritarians, with most observers blaming Donald Trump and the Republican Party that submitted to him. blistering and persuasive.' -Ezra Klein, New York TimesĪn insider's account of how politicians representing a radical white minority of Americans have used 'the world's greatest deliberative body' to hijack our democracy.

With a new epilogue on filibuster battles under the Biden administration

Kill switch adam jentleson