LEADERSHIP APPEAL IN THE US HOUSE-OF-REPRESENTATIVES - COMPARING OFFICEHOLDERS AND AIDES

Relying on the opinions of 97 advocates who actively participated in s teering any one of six diverse and controversial bills through the 100 th Congress, we uncover a network of congressional leaders comprised o f both the unelected and the elected members of the U.S. House of Repr esentatives. Beyond assembling a profile of this elite group of policy champions in terms of their experience, party affiliations, and polit ical ideologies, we test several theoretical propositions about the pe rsonal and structural attributes of congressional leadership that adhe re to officeholders and aides.