Blog – Center for Effective Lawmaking

High Hurdles: Legislative Professionalism and the Effectiveness of Women State Legislators

High Hurdles: Legislative Professionalism and the Effectiveness of Women State Legislators Thursday, August 7, 2025For numerical gains in American state legislatures to translate into substantive representation, women legislators need the ability to advocate for their constituents. In this forthcoming published paper in The Journal of Politics, Associate Professor Robert McGrath (George Mason University), Associate Professor Josh Ryan (Utah State University), and Assistant Professor Jatia Wrighten (Virginia Commonwealth University) examine the determinants of legislative effectiveness in state legislatures, theorizing that women in more professional legislatures will be subject to electoral selection…

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August 2, 2025

Blog / Center Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

The Bipartisan Path Revisited: Collaboration and Legislative Effectiveness in the U.S. States

The Bipartisan Path Revisited: Collaboration and Legislative Effectiveness in the U.S. States Monday, July 21, 2025Does bipartisan collaboration enhance legislative success in U.S. state legislatures, as it does in Congress? This Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper extends Harbridge-Yong, Volden, and Wiseman’s (2023) work, which finds that members of Congress are more effective lawmakers when they attract a greater share of cosponsors from the opposing party. Ph.D. candidate (and CEL Graduate Affiliate) Mackenzie R. Dobson adapts their framework to the state level using an original dataset of 401,720 bills…

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July 23, 2025

Events / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

Effective Lawmaking and Legislative Negotiations

Effective Lawmaking and Legislative Negotiations Tuesday, July 22, 2025On Wednesday, July 9, the Center for Effective Lawmaking co-hosted a discussion panel on Capitol Hill with the Program on Legislative Negotiation (PLN) and the Partnership for a Secure America (PSA) entitled “A Guide to Effective Lawmaking and Legislative Negotiations.” Panelists discussed the importance of legislative negotiations and other keys to effective lawmaking on Capitol Hill. The panel featured CEL Co-Director Craig Volden (University of Virginia), CEL Co-Director Alan Wiseman (Vanderbilt University), PLN Director Bettina Poirier (American University), and PLN Co-Founder Chris Bertram (American University), who…

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July 22, 2025

Events

CEL Co-Hosts “Capitol Connections” Event

CEL Co-Hosts "Capitol Connections" Event Wednesday, July 16, 2025On Tuesday, July 8, the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) co-hosted a networking reception titled “Capitol Connections: A UVA & Batten School Networking Mixer.” Taking place at the Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar in Washington, D.C., the event brought together 130 current and prospective students, alumni, faculty, and staff of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the University of Virginia more broadly. Participants connected with new and familiar people, while hearing how bipartisan leadership is shaping the future…

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July 16, 2025

Conversations with Lawmakers

Discussing Effective Lawmaking with NY Assembly Member Amy Paulin

Discussing Effective Lawmaking With NY Assembly Member Amy Paulin New York Assembly Member Amy Paulin has been a highly effective lawmaker in the New York General Assembly since 2000. She currently chairs the Assembly Committee on Health, and she also serves on the Committee on Rules and the Committee on Education.Throughout her distinguished career, Assembly Member Paulin has pursued a broad and impactful legislative agenda focused on health care, education, reproductive rights, child welfare, family support, domestic violence prevention, the elimination of sex trafficking, government reform, sustainability, animal welfare, and…

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July 14, 2025

About the CEL / Board of Advisors / Center Affiliates

Meet our new Advisory Board Member: Leigh Ann Caldwell

Meet our new Advisory Board Member: Leigh Ann Caldwell The Center for Effective Lawmaking is excited to welcome Leigh Ann Caldwell to our Board of Advisors.Ms. Caldwell is the Chief Washington Correspondent for Puck News and is an Emmy Award–winning veteran of various news outlets covering politics and policy on Capitol Hill. Previously, she was a senior reporter at The Washington Post, where she was co-author of The Post’s Early 202 and an anchor for Washington Post Live. Before joining The Post in 2022, she was a correspondent at NBC News. As a…

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July 10, 2025

Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis / State Legislative Effectiveness Scores

Legislative Effectiveness, Progressive Ambition, and Electoral Success

Legislative Effectiveness, Progressive Ambition, and Electoral Success Monday, June 30, 2025In this Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper, Co-Directors Craig Volden (University of Virginia) and Alan Wiseman (Vanderbilt University), and Faculty Affiliates Danielle Thomsen (University of California-Irvine) and Sarah Treul (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) examine the question of whether effective state lawmakers are more likely than ineffective state lawmakers to be elected to Congress. The authors draw on the CEL's dataset of State Legislative Effectiveness Scores from 1993 to 2018 to examine the relationship between lawmaker effectiveness and the…

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June 30, 2025

Blog / Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Effectiveness Scores / Legislative Research

Prior Experience and State Legislative Effectiveness

Prior Experience and State Legislative Effectiveness Tuesday, June 24, 2025How do the prior experiences of lawmakers shape their performance in office? Representatives who have held prior elected office or professional backgrounds in relevant fields—specifically law, government, or politics—seem to have an advantage in winning elections. It is unclear whether those experiences help them become more effective legislators. In this published paper in Legislative Studies Quarterly based on a Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper, Associate Professor Eric Hansen at Loyola University Chicago and Professor Sarah Treul (and CEL Faculty Affiliate) at the University of North…

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June 24, 2025

Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

Strategies of Control: Members of Congress and Policy Outcomes

Strategies of Control: Members of Congress and Policy Outcomes Monday, June 23, 2025 Members of Congress enter their roles with various policies they hope to implement, but passing legislation is difficult. Lawmakers spend their tenure navigating complex procedures and institutional barriers created by the legislative process and the separation of powers. In this published paper in Legislative Studies Quarterly, Assistant Professor Erinn Lauterbach (Villanova University and Center for Effective Lawmaking Faculty Affiliate) and Associate Professor Melinda Ritchie (The Ohio State University) investigate how members of the House of Representatives leverage…

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June 23, 2025

Blog / Events / State Legislatures

Habits of Effective Lawmaking: CEL Highlights Bipartisanship at Nevada’s Gallagher Dialogues

Photo credit: Guinn Center Habits of Effective Lawmaking: CEL Highlights Bipartisanship at Nevada’s Gallagher Dialogues This February, Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) Co-Directors Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman were honored to be keynote speakers at the 3rd Annual Gallagher Dialogues, convened by the Kenny Guinn Center for Policy Priorities in Reno, Nevada. First convened in 2023, the Gallagher Dialogues pay tribute to the legacy of Tom Gallagher, the late founder of the Guinn Center, who was deeply committed to advancing democracy, bipartisanship, and the free exchange of ideas.Now the Guinn…

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June 18, 2025