Majority rules: with 35 seats up for grabs in the U.S. Senate this November, is an ironclad Democratic majority of 60 in sight?

Columbia University political scientist Gregory Wawro explains that the term, which is derived from the Spanish filibustero, meaning "pirate" or "freebooter," has a different interpretation in contemporary politics. "Everything of any importance is threatened with a filibuster," he says, but no need for one superhero to read for hours on end from the phone book anymore. "You don't have to hold the floor these days, Mr. Smith style."

Wawro, who coauthored a 2006 book on the topic, says the threat of filibustering has become routine and that building a "supermajority" of 60 votes or more for cloture, which automatically ends debate on a bill and puts it to vote, is the name of the game. Unless a sponsor can rally the 60 votes, "it's very unlikely that the bill will make it to the floor," he says.

Supermajorities are hard to get, "especially today, given how polarized the two parties are," and the Democrats' slim advantage, Wawro says. That means sponsors have to reach further across the aisle to get the necessary three-fifths majority, which often involves watering down legislation perceived as being controversial.

In the 1960s no Senate term had more than seven filibusters, and in the first decade of the rest century, no term had less than 49 filibuster cloture votes. By comparison, the current Senate's first session alone racked up a whopping 60-plus.

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