Fighting for the Speakership: An Update

We update our book, Fighting for the Speakership, ten years after its publication, and discuss how the politics of the past decade have affected the organizational cartel. We first review the speakership election in the 118th Congress – why it took 15 ballots, how it was eventually resolved, and how the organization of the House was affected by the outcome of the speakership race, especially on the Republican side. We then explore the factors that led to the organizational cartel breaking down, focusing on the changing environmental conditions inside and outside of Congress the resulted in the diminishment of committees, the tightening of the procedural cartel, and the weakening of party leaders’ control over members. Finally, we conclude by speculating on what the breakdown of the organizational cartel in the 118th Congress might mean for the institution in succeeding years.