As the parties drift apart ideologically, the majority party will more likely introduce legislation that the minority party can’t accept, giving the latter a stronger incentive to block it via the filibuster. Using the filibuster is thus a rational response when one finds oneself in the smaller half of a polarized chamber, which is more likely to be the case today than 45 years ago.
This points to a highly beneficial purpose the filibuster can serve. Per Klein, we can still call it an obstructionist tool, but now it also appears to be a way to ensure moderate policies are enacted, even as the parties have become more extreme. In other words, thanks to the filibuster, an ideologically extreme majority party cannot simply enact its policy preferences as it sees fit. Instead, it must either find common ground with some on the other side, or do nothing. In other words, the filibuster has an effect similar to that of a large body of water on the climate of the neighboring coast, keeping the temperature from getting too hot or too cold…
We are thus faced with a choice. We can get rid of the filibuster to facilitate legislative policymaking, but we should brace ourselves for ideologically polarizing laws that will leave a third to a half of the country deeply unsatisfied. Democrats will enact very liberal policies; Republicans very conservative ones. On the other hand, keeping the filibuster in place will mean less gets done – as the two polarized parties have trouble finding common ground – but whatever policies are produced will be more moderate and less offensive to the losing faction.
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