Bargains! PROMOTIONS
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.
""A smart, richly observed look at how party factions shape leadership power and legislative outcomes. Dr. Bloch Rubin is my favorite kind of political scientist—someone who clearly spends time listening to members and staff, and who captures Capitol Hill as it actually works. Tracing the past half-century, she shows that when parties contain two or more strong factions, leaders can maneuver and legislate; when they don’t, leadership loses the ability to set the agenda.” * Roll Call * “Drawing on nearly a century of legislative history, she explores when, why, and how divided leaders exercise power. Whereas many scholars see divisions as weakening leadership, Bloch Rubin shows that they can strengthen it if factions collaborate evenly, but they face limits if one outperforms the other. Using case studies, she demonstrates how factional dynamics shape leadership power…a unique perspective on the legislative branch.” * Choice * “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""
