In the Stephen Skowronek tradition of leadership studies(The Politics Presidents Make, 1993), Patricia Lee Sykesmakes an important substantive and methodological contri-bution with her cross-national comparison of convictionpoliticians in the United States and the United Kingdom. Shebegins with a topology that dichotomizes two basic leadershipstyles: conviction and consensus. She carefully defines theseon the basis of their goals and strategies and the externalconditions that facilitate them.