Divided Parties, Strong Leaders

Ruth Bloch Rubin

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English

University of Chicago Press
11 August 2025

Political leaders & leadership; Political parties

Series: Chicago Studies in American Politics

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.

By: Ruth Bloch Rubin
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Country of Publication: United States [Currently unable to ship to USA: see Shipping Info]
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 481g
ISBN: 9780226841823
ISBN 10: 0226841820
Series: Chicago Studies in American Politics
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 11 August 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Chapter 1. Leading Divided Parties Chapter 2. Analyzing Divided Parties Chapter 3. How Nancy Pelosi Built Back Better Chapter 4. How John Boehner Lost His Party and Then His Job Chapter 5. How Tip O’Neill Lost the Budget Battle but Won the Public Relations War Chapter 6. How Sam Rayburn Tamed the House Rules Committee Chapter 7. How William Knowland Saved McCarthyism from McCarthy Chapter 8. Learning from Divided Parties Acknowledgments Appendix A: Archival Collections Consulted Appendix B: Interview Procedures Notes Select Bibliography Index

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.

Reviews for Divided Parties, Strong Leaders

“Bloch Rubin makes a strong case that—contrary to prevailing wisdom—divided legislative parties can sustain strong party leaders. What matters, Bloch Rubin argues, is whether internal party factions are symmetrically organized (empowering leaders to exercise power despite divisions) or asymmetrically organized (limiting leaders’ capacity in divided times). Divided Parties, Strong Leaders is a stellar work that challenges the conventional wisdom of Congressional scholars about the conditions that foster strong party leaders, speaking to contemporary leadership difficulties on Capitol Hill.” -- Sarah Binder | author of ""Stalemate: Causes and Consequences of Legislative Gridlock"" ""Divided Parties, Strong Leaders fundamentally challenges decades of political science research about congressional leadership power. Bloch Rubin demonstrates that leaders can wield significant and impactful influence—not merely in spite of divisions within their party, but often because of them. The context a leader navigates plays a role in shaping their power, but not in the simplistic ways we thought."" -- James Curry | coauthor of ""The Limits of Party""