In a perfect democracy, at least 50% of people would support every decision.

The U.S. falls short of this goal.

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Spoken For.
Senate vote: S. 3454 // December 9, 2010Needed 60 votes to end debate

Upon Reconsideration, Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to S. 3454

Who won, and how much of the country was behind them

Won the vote · Nay

40 votes, representing 80,715,610 people34.4%of U.S. adults

Lost the vote · Yea

57 votes, representing 142,609,335 people60.8%of U.S. adults

The dotted gap is 4.8% of U.S. adults whose member did not vote, voted “present,” or whose seat was vacant.

Share of U.S. adults represented, the Senate. The winning side fell 15.6 points short of a majority of the country.
SideOutcomeVotesShare of U.S. adults
NayWon4034.4%
YeaLost5760.8%
Not represented on this questionNo position taken04.8%

Senate This side won even though more senators, and more Americans, voted the other way. Ending debate needed 60 votes here, not a majority.