Legislative Staffs

Abstract

This essay surveys the literature on legislative staffing, especially research published in 1970 and thereafter, a period of extensive change and reform in legislatures. Within this literature, research has focused on these five areas: the individual aide or the individual legislator using staff resources; staffs of legislative subunits such as committees; the institution within which staffs work; staff and legislative information needs; and staff and legislative output. This essay also discusses problems of research on staffing, such as data comparability, and proposes areas for future research.