ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that electoral and institutional changes during the reform era provided incentives for the majority party membership to empower leaders with greater institutional resources like control over the Rules Committee. It aims to empirically assess two implications. The first part of the empirical analysis reflects directly on the Rules Committee’s behavior regarding whether or not to grant committee proposals a special rule. The second part relates to changes in voting behavior of majority and minority party members on amendments and special rules. The chapter illustrates the levels of partisan conflict on rule votes when controlling for their restrictive character. It also argues that political party leaders can use institutional mechanisms to coordinate collective action for the benefit of the membership. Procedural commitment by the majority party is one solution that can transform shared incentives for cooperation into partisan advantage.
