Date of Award

2026-08-12

Degree Name

PhD Leadership Studies

Dissertation Committee

Fred J. Galloway, EdD, Chairperson; Robert Donmoyer, PhD, Member; David C. King, PhD, Member

Keywords

bipartisanship, political leadership, polarization, structuration theory, institutionalism, normative, Harvard Bipartisan Program for Newly Elected Members of Congress, affective polarization, legislative bipartisanship

Abstract

The U.S. political system is more polarized now than at any time in the past century, as evidenced by the rise of political incivility, legislative gridlock, and hyperpolarization. To date, most studies and efforts have focused on institutional strategies to explain, transform, and mitigate the challenges posed to the political environment. By contrast, little attention has been paid to the normative or values-based behaviors of leaders to either explain or influence political leadership in ways that positively impact the political environment. Fortunately, some organizational programs, like Harvard’s Bipartisan Program for Newly Elected Members of Congress, have taken a different tack, focusing on enhancing the bipartisanship of newly elected leaders in Congress. However, to date, there is no empirical evidence to substantiate any apparent impact on bipartisanship.

This study used an exploratory sequential design to measure the impact of Harvard’s Bipartisan Program on new Members of Congress. Measures included pre- and post-intervention levels of affective polarization and a comparative analysis of bipartisan legislative bills sponsored using data from the Library of Congress. Using structuration theory as a framework, data were analyzed with hierarchical linear regression to determine the impact of normative and institutional factors on Members’ levels of affective polarization and bipartisanship. The analysis revealed mixed results. Although inferential tests found no statistically significant effect of Harvard’s Bipartisan Program on Members’ level of bipartisanship, the qualitative data, which examined relationships, perceptions of bipartisanship, political leadership, agency, and institutional structures, revealed different outcomes.

Findings indicate the Bipartisan Program serves as a significant catalyst for cross-party collaboration. Furthermore, evidence found that although the program fosters a conceptual framework for bipartisanship, its long-term impact is mediated by the performative and partisan nature of the modern-day House of Representatives. Therefore, future efforts to shape bipartisan normative behavior among newly elected Members of Congress must account for the fact that personal agency is often subordinated to the partisan institutional and structural realities of modern governance. For practitioners, these findings imply that bipartisan training should move beyond interpersonal relationship-building and address procedural literacy, teaching Members how to utilize existing formal and informal rules to empower bipartisan cooperation.

Document Type

Dissertation: Open Access

Department

Leadership Studies

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