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Assessing the Effects of Personal Characteristics and Context on U.S. House Speakers’ Leadership Styles, 1789-2006

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  • John E. Owens
  • Scot Schraufnagel
  • Quan Li

Abstract

Research on congressional leadership has been dominated in recent decades by contextual interpretations that see leaders’ behavior as best explained by the environment in which they seek to exercise leadership—particularly, the preference homogeneity and size of their party caucus. The role of agency is thus discounted, and leaders’ personal characteristics and leadership styles are underplayed. Focusing specifically on the speakers of the U.S. House of Representatives from the first to the 110th Congress, we construct measures of each speaker’s commitment to comity and leadership assertiveness. We find the scores reliable and then test the extent to which a speaker’s style is the product of both political context and personal characteristics. Regression estimates on speakers’ personal assertiveness scores provide robust support for a context-plus-personal characteristics explanation, whereas estimates of their comity scores show that speakers’ personal backgrounds trump context.

Suggested Citation

  • John E. Owens & Scot Schraufnagel & Quan Li, 2016. "Assessing the Effects of Personal Characteristics and Context on U.S. House Speakers’ Leadership Styles, 1789-2006," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(2), pages 21582440166, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:6:y:2016:i:2:p:2158244016643143
    DOI: 10.1177/2158244016643143
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. McGann, A J & Grofman, Bernard & Koetzle, W, 2002. "Why Party Leaders Are More Extreme Than Their Members: Modeling Sequential Elimination Elections in the U.S. House of Representatives," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 113(3-4), pages 337-356, December.
    6. Cooper, Joseph & Brady, David W., 1981. "Institutional Context and Leadership Style: The House from Cannon to Rayburn," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 75(2), pages 411-425, June.
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