Politics in Question

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James discuss Liz Cheney and whether House Republicans should remove her from their leadership team. What role do party leaders play in Congress? Has that role changed over time? How does the party leader job change when a president of the same party is in the White House? And when is it ok for rank-and-file members to change leaders? These are some of the questions that Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

Daniel P. Klinghard, “Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, and the Emergence of the President as Party Leader,” Presidential Studies Quarterly Vol. 35, no. 4 (December 2005).

Julia Azari, “Is the U.S. the Exception to Presidential Perils?” in Democracy and Autocracy Vol. 19, no. 1 (April 2012).

Susan Dunn, Roosevelt’s Purge: How FDR Fought to Change the Democratic Party (Belknap Press, 2012).

Marina Pitofsky, “Jordan says ‘votes are there’ to oust Cheney from GOP leadership,” The Hill (May 6, 2021).

Liz Cheney, “The GOP is at a turning point. History is watching us.” The Washington Post (May 5, 2021).