In recent years, however, she said, the tendency has been to close off debate.
It is a way of closing off debate in favour of a particular political agenda, usually one of conflict.
Senate Democrats on Tuesday said they had cobbled together the bare minimum of 60 votes needed to close off debate and advance to a final vote later this week.
The challenge in revising public spaces is to avoid closing off debate, denying the past, and arguing that art — even banal stone statues — should never offend.
That is, full and vigorous debate would lead to a decision that would determine the party's "line" on an issue, whereupon the party's central leadership would close off debate and require adherence to the party line.
Posts on China's Twitter-like microblogs largely appeared to support a harsh government response to the attacks, but censors later banned messages using the word "Kashgar," effectively closing off debate.
Senator Harry M. Reid, the Democratic majority leader, moved to hold a vote on Tuesday to close off debate, saying, "You either want to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists or you don't".
"We are concerned by the way in which competition for multimillion-dollar grants is closing off debate and restricting critical analysis of what is actually occurring on the ground," they wrote.
Of course, if the Republicans become too obstinate in blocking major elements they don't like, Democratic leaders in the Senate could choose to close off debate no matter what Mr. Daschle has recommended.
BRUSSELS — Despite rising pressure for new measures to draw a line under the debt crisis, Germany moved Monday to close off debate on an increase to a 750-billion-euro bailout fund, or the more radical step of issuing common euro zone bonds.
