Divided Parties, Strong Leaders

Ruth Bloch Rubin

ISBN 10: 0226841847 / ISBN 13: 9780226841847

Editore: The University Of Chicago Press Aug 2025, 2025

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Neuware - 'For decades, legislative scholars have viewed divided parties as a critical constraint on congressional leadership. The more a party's rank and file agree with one another, the stronger their leaders are predicted to be; as member preferences diverge, leader power is thought to diminish. In a powerful corrective to this received wisdom, Ruth Bloch Rubin argues that party divisions are not inherently limiting. In defense of this thesis, Divided Parties, Strong Leaders highlights variation in how members of party factions choose to work together. Bloch Rubin shows that leaders of divided parties will exercise power most forcefully when the collaborative efforts of their coalitions' competing factions are evenly matched. By contrast, their capacity to exercise power is more limited when one faction has out-collaborated its competition. Presenting detailed case studies of some of the most storied leaders of the postwar Congress, including Speakers Sam Rayburn and Nancy Pelosi, the book's empirical chapters explore the factional configurations these leaders encountered and their consequences for how forcefully they wielded power'.

Codice articolo 9780226841847

Dati bibliografici

• Titolo: Divided Parties, Strong Leaders
• Editore: The University Of Chicago Press Aug 2025
• Data di pubblicazione: 2025
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0226841847
• ISBN 13: 9780226841847
• Rilegatura: Taschenbuch
• Condizione: Neu
• Dimensioni: 228 L x 153 A x 17 P (millimetri) 228 millimetri di larghezza per 153 millimetri di altezza per 17 millimetri di profondità
• Peso: 386 grammi

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Riassunto

Drawing on nearly a century of legislative history, this careful account invites readers to think anew about when, why, and how leaders of divided parties wield power in Congress.

For decades, legislative scholars have viewed party divisions as critical constraints on congressional leadership. The more a party’s rank and file disagree with one another, the weaker their leaders are predicted to be; as member preferences converge, leader power is thought to increase.

In a powerful corrective to this prevailing view, Ruth Bloch Rubin argues that party divisions are not inherently limiting. Divided Parties, Strong Leaders highlights and examines variation in how members of party factions choose to work together. She shows that leaders of divided parties are well positioned to overcome, and even draw strength from, their divided ranks when the collaborative efforts of their coalitions’ competing factions are evenly matched. By contrast, their capacity to get what they want is more limited when one faction has out-collaborated its competition. Presenting detailed case studies of some of the most storied leaders of the postwar Congress, including Speakers Sam Rayburn and Nancy Pelosi, Bloch Rubin analyzes the factional configuration each leader encountered and explains why it mattered for their exercise of power.

Informazioni sull?autore

Ruth Bloch Rubin is associate professor of political science at the University of Chicago. She is the author of Building the Bloc: Intraparty Organization in the U.S. Congress.