Choosing the Leader

“Choosing the Leader achieves what it sets out to do: it is now the authoritative study of leadership elections in the House of Representatives.”—J. Heyrman, Choice

“Choosing the Leader raises important questions about the relationship. . . between candidates’ motivations to run for leadership posts and the quality of their tenure in office. . . . [An] engaging study.”—Ruth Bloch Rubin, The Forum

"Choosing the Leader makes a strong case for reconsidering our assumptions about House leadership races. It presents a parsimonious and novel theory, and its narratives allow the reader to ‘see’ the politics within the statistics. Choosing the Leader should be of interest to anyone hoping to better understand leadership selection, such as political junkies, scholars, staffers, and aspiring party leaders alike."—Matthew T. Harrigan, Congress & the Presidency

"Green and Harris present the best analysis of congressional leadership selection ever written. This book deserves to be read by every congressional scholar."— Benjamin Ginsberg, David Bernstein Professor of Political Science, Johns Hopkins University

"How have Gerald Ford, Newt Gingrich, Nancy Pelosi, and others come to lead their parties in Congress? These are among the nation's major elections. This book is the definitive analysis of the question."—David R. Mayhew, Sterling Professor of Political Science Emeritus, Yale University