The Strategic Value of Compromise: Bipartisanship and Committee Leadership in the U.S. House

Reforms among Republicans in the House of Representatives have led to changes in deciding who should become committee chair. While factors such as party unity and campaign contributions have been demonstrated to matter, bipartisanship has yet to be analyzed. Using party cartel theory and information theory, it is hypothesized that those that are higher in bipartisanship will be more likely to become committee chair on non-power committees but will be less likely to become committee chair on power committees. Conditional logistic analysis of the 107th through the 114th Congress finds bipartisanship has a positive effect on becoming chair of a non-power committee but no effect on power committees. This analysis demonstrates the utility of combining multiple theoretical frameworks for understanding Congress.