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Interpreting Government Practices, Part 2
Explore how unwritten practices and majority rule shape American constitutional structures through the House, Senate, and Supreme Court.
Lecture guide · Written by AI from the lecture. For the lecture’s own words, open the Transcript tab.
Akhil Reed Amar examines how unwritten practices and majority rule fill gaps where the written Constitution leaves institutional sizes and voting rules unspecified. Tracing the House settling at 435, Congress's power over the Supreme Court's size, and the constitutional status of the Senate filibuster, Amar contrasts failed innovations like the legislative veto and independent counsel with successful ones like the Saxbe fix and independent agencies.
This lecture assumes
- Constitutional Interpretationtaught in Course Introduction: Reading America's Written Constitution at 15:42
- Bicameralismtaught in America's First Officer, Part 1 at 15:32
Key Takeaways
- Majority rule serves as the Constitution's unstated baseline for assembly decision-making where no supermajority is specified.
- The size of the House of Representatives is set at 435 by statute, while Congress retains the constitutional power to determine the size of the Supreme Court.
- The Senate filibuster and rule 22 can theoretically be reformed or repealed via a simple majority vote through the constitutional or nuclear option.
- Innovations that directly contradict the written text of the Constitution, such as the legislative veto and independent counsel, ultimately fail in the long run.
Concepts Explained6
Majority Rule—The foundational premise that where no specific supermajority or other rule is specified in the Constitution, decisions are governed by a majority.
Nuclear Option—A parliamentary procedure that allows the Senate to override a standing rule, such as the filibuster, by a simple majority vote.
Legislative Veto—A statutory provision allowing one or both houses of Congress to invalidate an executive action without passing a new law or securing presidential signature.
Independent counsel—A statutory prosecutor model intended to investigate executive wrongdoing independently, found unconstitutional because judges cannot appoint prosecutors.
Examples, Proofs & Derivations
Works & Sources Cited1
Case
United States v. Ballin—Supreme Court case cited for the general rule of parliamentary bodies regarding quorums and majority action.