Majority party leadership in the United States House of Representatives, 1977--1996: Sanction, inclusion, and protection

This analysis examines the interaction between leaders and rank and file members of the U.S. House of Representatives and focuses on the years from 1977 to 1996. This time period includes the tenure of Speakers Thomas O'Neill (D-Ma.), James Wright (D-Tex.), Thomas Foley (D-Wa.), and Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.). The literature on the political party in the legislature presents two strategies that leaders use when they make appointments to important positions in the House. First, leaders sanction members with denial of desirable positions based on the party loyalty of the members. Second, leaders are inclusive of the diversity of the party when they make important appointments. The literature review of the dissertation places these approaches to how parties and party leaders operate in the broader context of the understandings of the organization and process of the House.;Criticisms of the literature are presented with an original question about how leaders use electoral information about rank and file members when leaders make appointments to important House positions. Several reasons justify why specific leadership strategies emerge in the specific types of appointments that leaders make. To test these expectations about strategies, models predict the likelihood that members receive assignments to prestigious committees, whip system, and issue-specific task forces based on specific characteristics of members. The evidence suggests that leaders do use specific strategies for specific appointments. Party loyalty increases the probability that a member is assigned to a prestigious committee and electoral vulnerability increases the probability that a member is assigned to a task force. Leaders also vary their strategies in making appointments based on changes in the characteristics of the majority party caucus. Conclusions address the adaptable nature of the party leadership and the contribution this project offers to the understanding of how political parties operate in the House.