ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that the cumulative effect of the era of reform diverges widely from what many of the reformers sought. The Congress in 1959 was not terribly different from the one that had emerged in the 1910s from a rebellion against the iron-handed rule of its party leaders. Party leaders such as Nicholas Longworth, Sam Rayburn, and Lyndon Johnson worked closely with committee chairs such as Carl Vinson, Richard Russell, and Clarence Cannon to determine the agenda of Congress, formulate legislation, negotiate with the president, and build coalitions to enact a legislative program. The legislature is the heart of any democracy, changes in congressional behavior have modified the entire pattern of self-government in the United States. Democratic theorists have long regarded unified, ideologically coherent parties as indispensable instruments of collective action. Such parties can develop agendas, push programs, construct majority coalitions—in a word, they can get things done.
