Jolina Dong – Center for Effective Lawmaking

Legislative Anaylsis / State Legislatures

The Concentration of Legislative Effectiveness in the American States

The Concentration of Legislative Effectiveness in the American States Wednesday, November 13 In this Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper, Professor Todd Makse of Florida International University and Jacob Lollis of the University of Virginia examine how effective lawmaking is distributed among legislators within a chamber. While legislative effectiveness scores for individual lawmakers are often emphasized, this paper highlights the frequently overlooked importance of evaluating how effectiveness is spread across all members of a legislative body. Through analyzing legislative effectiveness data, the authors develop new measures to assess the…

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November 13, 2024

Legislative Effectiveness, Electoral Anticipation, and Garnering Campaign Advantage in the US Senate

Legislative Effectiveness, Electoral Anticipation, and Garnering Campaign Advantage in the US Senate In this Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper, Assistant Professor (and CEL Affiliate) Carlos Algara of Claremont Graduate University examines if US Senators anticipate an electoral cost for legislative ineffectiveness. Specifically, he determines whether or not they garner electoral payoffs if they act on this electoral incentive by increasing effectiveness prior to re-election. Through analyzing data on Senate primaries since 1980, he concludes that senators do conveniently become more effective before re-election when they are in-cycle and…

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October 29, 2024

About the CEL / Board of Advisors

Meet our new Advisory Board Member: Daniel Stid

Meet our new Advisory Board Member: Daniel Stid The Center for Effective Lawmaking is excited to welcome Daniel Stid to our Board of Advisors. Mr. Stid is the Executive Director of Lyceum Labs. He previously served as the founding director of the Hewlett Foundation’s U.S. Democracy Program. From 2013-22, he led $180 million in grantmaking to shore up U.S. democracy in a time of polarization. Earlier in his career, he was a partner at The Bridgespan Group, where he advised nonprofit, foundation, and government leaders; a management consultant with The…

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October 23, 2024

Center Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

Outcome-Consequential Campaigning

Outcome-Consequential Campaigning In this Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper, Co-Directors Craig Volden (University of Virginia) and Alan Wiseman (Vanderbilt University) and Ph.D. Candidate Mackenzie Dobson (University of Virginia) examine whether congressional campaigns offer insights into likely policy outcomes championed by the candidates, including those resulting from collective policymaking. To address this inquiry, the co-authors utilized new scholarship to highlight the enhanced lawmaking effectiveness of bipartisan legislators. They found that, since the year 2000, more than a third of congressional freshmen used bipartisan language on the campaign trail. These bipartisan campaigners…

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October 21, 2024

Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

Enabling Compromise

Enabling Compromise In this Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper, Assistant Professor (and CEL Faculty Affiliate) Christian Fong and Ph.D. Student Nicolas Hernandez Florez of the University of Michigan examine how lawmakers are able to compromise on legislation despite the fear of backlash from their party’s primary voters. Contrary to common perception, two aspects of congressional politics – partisan agenda control and messaging bills – can help facilitate compromise instead of preventing it. Congressional leadership will put forward messaging bills known as cover bills - bills they know will…

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October 10, 2024