“The least democratic legislative chamber in any developed nation.”

It’s good to see Liptak explain the effects of the World’s Worst Deliberative Body. And while the the central inequities are an insoluble problem, it certainly means that extraconstitutional rules that further empower grossly overrepresented minorities, like the filibuster, are particularly indefensible.

…a couple of commenters have nominated the House of Lords for the title dishonor. This is incorrect, because the House of Lords is subordinate to the House of Commons, not a coequal branch, and hence the distortions produced by its anachronistic membership are much less severe.