Fighting for the speakership : the House and the rise of party government / Jeffery A. Jenkins, Charles Stewart III.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 421-437) and index.

Introduction -- The evolving roles and responsibilities of House officers in the antebellum era -- Organizational politics under the secret ballot -- Bringing the selection of House officers into the open -- Shoring up partisan control: the speakership elections of 1839 and 1847 -- Partisan tumult on the floor: the speakership elections of 1849 and 1855-56 -- The speakership and the rise of the Republican Party -- Caucus governance and the emergence of the organizational cartel, 1861-1891 -- The organizational cartel persists, 1891-2011 -- Conclusion -- Appendix 1. Summary of House organization, First-112th Congress (1789-2011) -- Appendix 2. Election of House speaker, First-112th Congresses -- Appendix 3. Election of House clerk, First-112th Congresses -- Appendix 4. Election of House printer, 15th-36th Congresses -- Appendix 5. Summary of democratic and Republican caucus nominations for speaker, 38th-112th Congresses -- Appendix 6. Democratic and Republican caucus nominations for speaker, 38th-112th Congresses.

"Fighting for the Speakership provides a comprehensive history of how Speakers have been elected in the U.S. House since 1789, arguing that the organizational politics of these elections were critical to the construction of mass political parties in America and laid the groundwork for the role they play in setting the agenda of Congress today. Jeffery Jenkins and Charles Stewart show how the speakership began as a relatively weak office, and how votes for Speaker prior to the Civil War often favored regional interests over party loyalty. While struggle, contention, and deadlock over House organization were common in the antebellum era, such instability vanished with the outbreak of war, as the majority party became an "organizational cartel" capable of controlling with certainty the selection of the Speaker and other key House officers. This organizational cartel has survived Gilded Age partisan strife, Progressive Era challenge, and conservative coalition politics to guide speakership elections through the present day. Fighting for the Speakership reveals how struggles over House organization prior to the Civil War were among the most consequential turning points in American political history."--Publisher's description.