This article notes two factors that make it easier for House reps to thumb their noses at the House and party leadership:
1. A suppression of the "earmark" — the pork barrel goodness that can be given as a reward or withheld as a punishment. With an official stance opposing earmarks, the House leadership can't whip its members into line with them.
2. Campaign funding now focuses on personal campaigns, Super PACs, and private donors, not on party organization. So the party leadership has little control it can exert, either.
In theory, this could mean greater independence and diversity for GOP representatives. In practice, with a limited number of folk giving very, very big dollars, it means they are beholden even more directly to their donation base, with nobody to rein them in.
Also note that, while this is currently impacting the GOP, there's little to keep it from also affecting the Dems down the line.
This is not to say that earmarks are good, or that being under the thumb of the party is a positive thing. The wild card here seems to be the unlimited cash flow that Citizens United has unleashed, and how that impacts who manages to get into office and who's calling the tune.
The Real Reason for the GOP Chaos in the House
First of all, let’s not shed any tears over the fall of Kevin McCarthy. Though the Republican majority leader is well-liked by his colleagues, he seems to have even less of a vision for where the GOP should go than the famously visionless John Boehner. If McCarthy has ever had…
The flip side of this is the dark art of the British ‘Whip system’.
An MP may find himself in a embarrassing situation, and he will find himself asking the Chief Whip (a senior MP responsible for party discipline in the House) for help. And a few discreet phone calls will be made, and maybe a few discrete brown envelopes will change hand, and all of a sudden there will not be a problem.
Of course in a few years time that MP may find he can’t, with good conscious, vote the way the Party wants him too, and may show signs of rebellion on a vital issue. And the Chief Whip will have a little conversation, explaining how important it is to vote with the party, and maybe suggesting a junior minister position is soon to be available. And if that doesn’t work, he may appeal to emotion, what would his wife think of rebelling? Did she ever find out about that public toilet on Hampstead Heath…
However, I’m not sure whether that is worse than elected representatives running scared of a lobby group- I think I’d rather have them beholden to Party than Big Business.