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

The U.S. falls short of this goal.

Activate to continue

Spoken For.
Senate vote: Cloture motion // May 19, 2011Needed 60 votes to end debate

Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Nomination of Goodwin Liu, of California, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit

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

Won the vote · Nay

43 votes, representing 90,163,215 people38.0%of U.S. adults

Lost the vote · Yea

52 votes, representing 133,489,146 people56.3%of U.S. adults

The dotted gap is 5.7% 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 12.0 points short of a majority of the country.
SideOutcomeVotesShare of U.S. adults
NayWon4338.0%
YeaLost5256.3%
Not represented on this questionNo position taken05.7%

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