1. Intraparty organization in the US Congress; 2. Procedural revolt and the House insurgency, 1908–10; 3. The Senate insurgency's quest for economic reform, 1909–10; 4. Securing southern solidarity, 1937–56; 5. The decline of southern influence, 1957–64; 6. Making the moderates matter, 1994–2010; 7. Coordinating liberal hardliners, 1957–94; 8. Organizing conservative revolutionaries, 1970–2015; 9. Rethinking the mischiefs of faction.
When will dissident members of a Congress successfully seize power from their party leaders and fellow lawmakers? When they organize.
Ruth Bloch Rubin is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago. She received her PhD from the University of California, Berkeley and was previously a Robert Wood Johnson Scholar in Health Policy Research at Harvard University, Massachusetts.
'Congressionalists and scholars of American political development
will hail this deeply researched study as a scholarly landmark.
Writing confidently and vividly, Bloch Rubin demonstrates that,
over time, the construction and maintenance of minoritarian blocs -
in both houses - have fundamentally shaped the course of American
history. Reading her path-breaking book will change how you think
about Congress and its politically constitutive role in our
regime.' Richard M. Valelly, Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania
'The emergence of an organized party faction in Congress often
produces spectacular moments of high gamesmanship in which
political careers are determined for better or worse. Behind those
intra-party games is the painstaking labor of dedicated dissenters
who create and manage those organized factions. Through her own
painstaking research, Ruth Bloch Rubin has uncovered and analyzed
their history, providing us with both a much deeper understanding
of the genesis of political institutions and an illustration of how
the eruption of factions has shaped and will continue to shape the
trajectory of American politics.' Richard Bensel, Cornell
University
'With analytical verve, historical depth, and empirical richness,
this wonderful book illuminates the origins, character, and effects
of organizations within parties on political representation in our
national legislature. By deploying an institutional imagination
with an eye for what matters, Building the Bloc compellingly shows
how the persistence of these structures has shaped the character of
legislative content and productivity, and sheds fresh light on key
debates about parties, pivots, and preferences.' Ira Katznelson,
Columbia University
'This deeply researched book offers a fresh perspective on
congressional organization and policymaking. Ruth Bloch Rubin
traces the development of the progressive Republicans of the early
twentieth century, the Southern Bloc of the mid twentieth century,
the Democratic Study Group of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as the
Blue Dogs, the Republican Study Committee, and the Freedom Caucus
of recent decades. In the process, she illustrates how intraparty
organization empowers pivotal actors who drive policymaking and
Congress's institutional development.' Frances E. Lee, University
of Maryland
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