Divided parties, strong leaders / Ruth Bloch Rubin.

SeriesChicago studies in American politics
Chicago studies in American politics. ^A786748
Contents Leading divided parties -- Analyzing divided parties -- How Nancy Pelosi built back better -- How John Boehner lost his party and then his job -- How Tip O'Neill lost the budget battle but won the public relations war -- How Sam Rayburn tamed the House Rules Committee -- How William Knowland saved McCarthyism from McCarthy -- Learning from divided parties.
Abstract "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"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in other formOnline version: Bloch Rubin, Ruth. Divided parties, strong leaders. Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2025 9780226841830
LCCN 2024048569
ISBN9780226841847
ISBN9780226841823 hardcover
ISBN0226841820 hardcover
ISBN0226841847 paperback
ISBNelectronic book

Availability

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Joyner Order on Demand Title Order On Demand ✔ Available Click to order this title