UNDERSTANDING LEGISLATIVE LEADERSHIP BEYOND THE CHAMBER - THE MEMBERSPERSPECTIVE

This paper examines the degree to which legislative leaders in the mod ern era are expected to expend energy on public relations, campaign ac tivities, and interaction with other government officials, perhaps at the expense of more traditional institutional activities. Using data f rom 120 senators in three state legislatures, the author examines an e mpirical model in an effort to explain variations in the proportion of external activities associated with legislative leadership. Empirical tests reveal a statistically significant relationship between a legis lator's institutional, electoral, and personal environments and the ex ternal nature of the individual's expectations of legislative leaders. However, characteristics of a member's personal environment-primarily experience, ambition, and role orientation-are most strongly related to how that member defines appropriate leadership. The vocal and visib le legislative leadership of modem legislatures is encouraged by young , ambitious politicos who perceive themselves as electorally vulnerabl e. This tendency is particularly strong for legislators of the executi ve's party in competitive institutions. Leaders will continue to focus attention on external activities as long as members perceive such act ivity as being in their own interest.