Because legislatures typically only require a majority of the quorum in attenance, a majority party can be outvoted if a large number of its legislators are absent and the opposition is in full attendance. An important part of a government whip's job is to ensure that this situation never arises; sufficient majority legislators must keep party attendance close enough to equality that the majority is slim, and the quorum cannot be busted by the departure of the majority legislators, this is difficult and can be exploited by the opposition to harass the majority.