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. 2223 // April 30, 2014Needed 60 votes to end debate

Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to S. 2223

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

Won the vote · Nay

42 votes, representing 96,551,457 people39.5%of U.S. adults

Lost the vote · Yea

54 votes, representing 143,662,559 people58.7%of U.S. adults

The dotted gap is 1.8% 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 10.5 points short of a majority of the country.
SideOutcomeVotesShare of U.S. adults
NayWon4239.5%
YeaLost5458.7%
Not represented on this questionNo position taken01.8%

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