1 / 11

Party Leadership and Collective Action: A View from Inside the 111 th Congress

Party Leadership and Collective Action: A View from Inside the 111 th Congress. House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (SC-06). Role of Whip We strive for wins, not unanimity. House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (SC-06).

erik
Download Presentation

Party Leadership and Collective Action: A View from Inside the 111 th Congress

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Party Leadership and Collective Action: A View from Inside the 111th Congress Dirksen: Party Leadership

  2. House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (SC-06) • Role of Whip • We strive for wins, not unanimity Dirksen: Party Leadership

  3. House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (SC-06) • With historic 111th Congress, the Majority Whip possessed new policy clout. • House Leadership & the Obama Administration Dirksen: Party Leadership

  4. Office of the House Majority WhipH-329 The Capitol • Earn trust/Access/Piece of History • Experience in Policy Shop • Treat everyone’s priority as your own Dirksen: Party Leadership

  5. Party Leadership for Collective Action • MC universal goals (reelection, policy, power) • Garner sufficient votes back home • Achieve policy • House Democratic Caucus • 256 members with different constituencies, unique reelection circumstances, quite varied policy preferences • Many factions: Blue Dogs, Asian Pacific, Black Caucus, Hispanic, Progressives, New Democrats • Each policy presents unique challenge Dirksen: Party Leadership

  6. Party Leadership for Collective Action • What strategies can leaders employ to “prod” members to contribute/behave in ways to produce collective goods for party while helping members to achieve individual goals? • Maintain majority party status • Party reputation=Good government • Pragmatic policy solving social & economic problems Dirksen: Party Leadership

  7. Party Leadership for Collective Action • Constant reelection concern. “Our prospects as a party are tied to this president, if this bill goes down we all go down”. • Psychology of Action • Historic Window of Opportunity Dirksen: Party Leadership

  8. Party Leadership for Collective Action Achieving Collective Goals of Party • Leadership structure • Individual political skills • Leadership staff • Centrality of information • Trust and relationships Dirksen: Party Leadership

  9. Party Leadership for Collective Action Achieving Collective Party Goals • “The 3 Ps” • Controlling the Agenda • Rules and procedures • Centrality of Rules Committee Dirksen: Party Leadership

  10. Party Leadership for Collective Action Achieving Collective Party Goals • Carrots and sticks • “Get more with honey” • Putting the whip on • Reduce uncertainty on the floor • The Whip Process Dirksen: Party Leadership

  11. Party Leadership for Collective Action Leadership Premium Dirksen: Party Leadership

More Related