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House hard-liners have a few questions for the three Republican candidates for speaker when they arrive for their job interview Tuesday night.

Behind closed doors at the Capitol Hill Club, members of several conservative House group will ask the candidates about their policy positions 鈥� budget, debt, that kind of thing 鈥� and their strategy.

But they鈥檒l also be asked how they plan to run the House 鈥� because these conservative hard-liners are most unhappy with the command-and-control style of outgoing Speaker John Boehner (R) of Ohio. At least, that鈥檚 how they see his style.

鈥淚鈥檓 looking for a change in the culture and the way things are run,鈥� Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R) of South Carolina, a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, told reporters last week. 鈥淭he anger and the frustration in our membership runs a lot deeper than you folks realize.鈥�

Their concern is that the GOP leadership is too centralized, too secretive and exclusive, even too punishing of independent-minded members (such as themselves). And yet, observers say, the complainants should be careful what they wish for.

On the one hand, a more open process would create a more democratic (small 鈥渄鈥�) place, says Sarah Binder, an expert on Congress at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

鈥淏ut you鈥檙e also up against a faction in the Republican conference that doesn鈥檛 seem to really believe in compromise,鈥� Ms. Binder says. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e going to open up the process to more voices, there has to be some agreement at the end of the day that you鈥檙e going to coalesce around something on the floor, and I think that鈥檚 why it may be a recipe for chaos.鈥�

Frogs in a wheelbarrow

Even with the largest House majority since the Depression, Speaker Boehner has had a tough time rounding up enough Republican members to pass legislation. He once quipped about how hard it is 鈥渢o keep 218 frogs in a wheelbarrow long enough to get a bill passed.鈥�

As speaker, Boehner vowed to be inclusive. But during his tenure, hard-liners have felt isolated, ignored, maligned. They want in on the strategizing. They want more of their amendments offered up on the floor. They want plum committee assignments. They deplore the 鈥減ay to play鈥� committee chairmanship system, based on seniority and fundraising prowess. And they don鈥檛 like being railroaded at the last-minute with pre-baked bills they haven鈥檛 had time to read.

鈥淲e would love to be a bigger part of [strategizing]. We would love to have a much larger open mind by leadership,鈥� Rep. John Fleming (R) of Louisiana said in an interview last week. But 鈥渨e hear nothing 鈥� no plans until we鈥檙e right up against a deadline, and all of a sudden we鈥檙e told what we鈥檙e going to be voting for.鈥�

It was actually this very issue 鈥� the perceived consolidation of power in the speakership, along with a complaint about punishment of members 鈥� that prompted Rep. Mark Meadows (R) of North Carolina to file in July his unusual resolution to 鈥渧acate the chair,鈥� i.e., dethrone the speaker. That discontent simmered over the August recess, but before it boiled over, Boehner decided to jump from the cauldron.

Representative Meadows is among several Republicans who have been disciplined for straying from the party line. He was removed as a subcommittee chair after he voted against the speaker on trade, though he was reinstated later.

Two other Republicans, Reps. Daniel Webster (R) of Florida and Rich Nugent also of Florida, were kicked off the powerful Rules Committee 鈥� also known as the speaker鈥檚 committee 鈥� because they didn鈥檛 vote for Boehner as speaker in January. Actually, Representative Webster ran against Boehner, and he is again running for speaker, even though he got only 12 votes last time.

The speaker candidates are heeding these complaints. Majority leader Kevin McCarthy (R) of California is reportedly envisioning a more inclusive style that offers weekly meetings with the heads of all the various GOP caucuses, from the right-wing Freedom Caucus to the moderate Tuesday Group. The meetings would be legislative strategy sessions, according to Politico.

Representative McCarthy is being challenged for the speakership by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R) of Utah, the powerful chairman of the government oversight committee. The underdog speaker candidate says it鈥檚 time for a 鈥渇resh face鈥� in leadership and promises to have 鈥渕ore respect鈥� for the committee process and to move away from 鈥減re-baked鈥� bills. 鈥淟et the will of the body speak,鈥� he said on Monday.

New twist on an old tale

Some of the changes that hard-liners are demanding would require approval from the majority of the GOP conference. But a lot of others in the conference don鈥檛 like the idea of handing out benefits to a vocal clutch of disruptors, whom they see as disloyal and uninterested in governing. In their view, these 40 to 50 lawmakers have been given too much leeway, and they say Boehner bent over backward to accommodate them.

鈥淚鈥檓 happy to look at any rules change, but the problem here isn鈥檛 that too many people are disciplined,鈥� says Rep. Tom Cole (R) of Oklahoma, with a chuckle. 鈥淭he problem is they鈥檙e almost never disciplined at all.鈥�

Representative Cole is a member of the Rules Committee that determines amendments and how legislation is handled on the floor. He doesn鈥檛 have much patience for hard-liners鈥� clamoring for 鈥渞egular order鈥� in parliamentary procedure.

鈥淰oting against rules and not supporting the speaker on the floor, and then demanding more participation and regular order, seems to me at odds with yourself,鈥� he says.

The hard-liners鈥� complaints about being shut out of the process are the same complaints that the minority party has made against the majority party 鈥渟ince time began,鈥� says former House historian Raymond Smock. The difference here is that it鈥檚 a minority within the controlling party that is upset.

Should they get their way, 鈥渢hey may be happy for one term, but then they鈥檇 find they couldn鈥檛 get anything done,鈥� Mr. Smock says. 鈥淣obody would have sufficient power to make decisions because they would be governing by caucus.鈥�

The candidates running for speaker will promise to be more inclusive. If they deliver, Smock and others say, they may have an even tougher time of keeping their frogs in the wheelbarrow than Boehner did.