John J. Pitney

TL;DR: The first book-length comprehensive analysis since 1970 of the causes and consequences of the permanent minority status of the House Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives is.

TL;DR: In this paper, the scope and meaning of the Democratic victory in the 1992 presidential election are discussed, and the future of American politics and institutions are discussed. But the focus is on the Democratic Party and not on the Republican Party.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors introduce the Somali Piracy epidemic and the current and proposed forces in the country, and discuss the economic, legal and regulatory issues, costs, benefits, and results.

Abstract: Utilizing prior studies in management science, presidential studies and congressional leadership, Jewell and Whicker provide their readers with an extremely extensive analysis of the context, nature, styles, and techniques of legislative leadership, as well as a conceptual scheme for studying that leadership. Although the data and examples cited focus on leadership in contemporary American states, their conceptualization and operationalization of various leadership aspects provide insights useful in any political setting. This will become must reading for any student of legislative leadership. Three major contributions to the literature on legislative leadership are apparent in this book. First, there is a proposed conceptual approach to measuring leadership aspects using a rich theoretical base. Five major dimensions are identified: historical national and state trends, institutional structure, leadership's partisan position, leadership tools and techniques, and personal leadership type (see tbl. 1.1 and app. 2). Abundant illustrations are provided regarding the composition and effects of each dimension, including their components and specific indicators; relationships and possible hypotheses are also explored. The utility of this approach is exemplified by a typology based on leadership style (command, coordinating, and consensus) and leadership goals (power, policy, and process) proposed to analyze state legislative leadership behavior (chap. 6). A second contribution is the rich set of examples, detailed for the reader, illustrating the application of this scheme to specific American state legislative settings. Based on interviews with approximately 90 state legislative leaders in 22 states, the authors provide a wealth of information about the leadership activities, predispositions, and styles in actual legislative settings. This does not become a routine "laundry list" of leadership practices in state legislatures but, rather, a rich exposition of state legislative leadership behavior demonstrating how leadership works. The attention provided to themes like the increasing independence of individual legislators, the growth of professionalism among members, the decreasing power held by most legislative leaders, the erosion of party unity, the advent of polarization within and between legislative parties, and the implications of term limits on leadership and legislative operations enhances one's appreciation of the context within which contemporary legislative leaders function. Anyone interested in American state legislative leadership will find extensive information and will learn from the authors' insights regarding how these legislative leaders work. Jewell and Whicker communicate their expertise on state legislative leadership very effectively through their integrating examples of leadership behavior with the general principles of leadership style. The third major contribution of Legislative Leadership in the American State is its well-documented and thorough treatment of the increasing numbers of women legislative leaders. This too frequently neglected topic of gender and legislative leadership appears both as a theme throughout the book and as a topic for more in-depth treatment in a separate chapter. The authors conclude that women legislative leaders are less likely than their male counterparts to adopt leadership types associated with a "command-power" approach. The specification of a systematic measurement scheme for studying legislative leadership is the most significant contribution of Legislative Leadership in the American States. Subsequent researchers can scrutinize this approach and experiment with applying it to various legislative settings. No doubt, changes will occur and new indicators will be added; yet the authors have provided us with a critical "road map" to aid in the further study of leadership in any legislative organization. While reference is made throughout the book to hypotheses suggested by the data presented, there is no testing of factors affecting leadership style and goal adoption or of the consequences of leadership style and goal adoption on legislative activities, member behavior, or policy outputs. Such testing is left to the subsequent work of others who can build on the insights, relationships, and theory testing suggested herein. One shortcoming, conceded at the outset is the absence of information, perceptions, and perspectives from rank-andfile legislators. Data collection from "followers" is a standard measurement strategy found throughout management science and organizational theory studies of leadership. Only as one is able to bring these perceptions into the analysis of leadership does one have a balanced and objective perspective. While Jewell and Whicker agree explicitly with this necessity, it is left largely to subsequent researchers to determine how to integrate this measurement piece into the study of legislative leadership.