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. 1197 // November 21, 2013Needed 60 votes to end debate

Motion to Invoke Cloture on S. 1197

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

Won the vote · Nay

44 votes, representing 82,276,321 people34.0%of U.S. adults

Lost the vote · Yea

51 votes, representing 133,411,498 people55.1%of U.S. adults

The dotted gap is 10.9% 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 16.0 points short of a majority of the country.
SideOutcomeVotesShare of U.S. adults
NayWon4434.0%
YeaLost5155.1%
Not represented on this questionNo position taken010.9%

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