WASHINGTON — Representative Marlin Stutzman, a fourth-generation farmer from northeast Indiana, came to Washington on the Tea Party wave of 2010 intent on tackling his constituents’ many demands: cutting federal spending, repealing the estate tax and, as he said in his campaign announcement, standing up for “We the people.”

But instead, Mr. Stutzman, 39, and many of his conservative colleagues who eventually pressed for the resignation of Speaker John A. Boehner find themselves serving in a House they describe as of the leadership, by the leadership and for the leadership — where power lies not in big ideas or high-minded debate but in the mighty weight of the speaker’s gavel.

In interviews, in public appearances and in private conversations, the conservatives said it was their shared frustration over their powerlessness, and what they viewed as Mr. Boehner’s refusal to open up the legislative process, that forged their strongest bond and ultimately led them to press for his ouster. Still, the group has been ridiculed for an ideology and approach that seems deeply rooted in a single word: no.

They say their policy positions — drastic reductions in the size of government and lower taxes — are repeatedly undercut by the unwillingness of Republican leaders to contemplate using their ultimate weapon, the power of the purse, to force a government shutdown. Rather than trying to get past the paralysis, Mr. Stutzman and his allies want to use it to maximum effect.