
Getting what you pay for: Resource allocations and legislative success
Getting what you pay for: Resource allocations and legislative success Thursday, May 29, 2025
The Center for Effective Lawmaking seeks to advance the generation, communication, and use of new knowledge about the effectiveness of individual lawmakers and U.S. legislative institutions. We envision American legislatures comprised of effective lawmakers, strong institutional capacity, and the incentive structure needed to address America’s greatest public policy challenges.
Getting what you pay for: Resource allocations and legislative success Thursday, May 29, 2025
Discussing Effective Lawmaking with New Mexico State Senator Mimi Stewart New Mexico State Senator
Pivots or Partisans? Proposal-Making Strategy and Status Quo Selection in Congress (Published Paper) Thursday,
The Center for Effective Lawmaking (“CEL”) is a joint partnership between the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and Vanderbilt University. It was created in 2017 to advance the generation, communication, and use of new knowledge about the effectiveness of individual lawmakers and U.S. legislative institutions. The Center grew out of the Legislative Effectiveness Project, based on the scholarship of Craig Volden and Alan E. Wiseman, as featured in the award-winning book Legislative Effectiveness in the United States Congress: The Lawmakers.
Today, the CEL is directed by Craig Volden of the University of Virginia and Alan E. Wiseman of Vanderbilt University. To advance the goals of the Center, Volden and Wiseman have undertaken numerous research projects, brought together a team of scholars around the country with a diverse portfolio of work surrounding this issue, host an annual research conference, created materials to help lawmakers become more effective, and provide opportunities for public involvement through events with former and current legislators.
We invite you to support our work. Financial support can be tailored to enhance specific Center initiatives of greatest interest to you. If you are interested in hosting an event to increase awareness about our work, please email thelawmakers@virginia.edu.
At a time when cynicism about Congress (both within and outside of the institution) seems both insurmountable and well-founded, the search for effective lawmakers is perhaps as crucial as it has ever been. It is at times when institutions are failing that effective leaders are needed more than ever.
Volden & Wiseman (2014, p. 13)