Blog – Center for Effective Lawmaking

Discussing Lawmaking with Former House Parliamentarian Tom Wickham

Discussing Lawmaking with Former House Parliamentarian Tom Wickham Watch as the Co-Directors of the Center for Effective Lawmaking interview Tom Wickham on lawmaking effectiveness, what advice he would give to new members of Congress today, as well as trends and changes he's noticed over the years. Mr. Tom Wickham, former Parliamentarian of the U.S. House of Representatives, serves as senior vice president of State & Local Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Wickham leads the Chamber’s new initiative that monitors state and local policy developments and coordinates state…

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June 2, 2021

Measuring Congress: A Discussion with the BPC

Measuring Congress: A Discussion with the BPC On May 21, 2021, the Center for Effective Lawmaking participated in a panel discussion, hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center, on modernizing Congress. Joined by experts in the field, CEL Co-Director Craig Volden shared how we can modernize Congress by measuring Congress. The CEL's Legislative Effectiveness Scores can function as a metric to hold Congress accountable. Watch the entire conversation below: https://youtu.be/uxSTbC0OXlc

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May 27, 2021

Legislative Research

Are Bipartisan Lawmakers More Effective?

Are Bipartisan Lawmakers More Effective? The 117th Congress wrestles with the Biden administration agenda and pressing policy challenges during an increasingly polarized time for American politics. The question looming large over all of these discussions is whether bipartisanship is dead.We find that, even in these politically polarized times, being a bipartisan lawmaker yields legislative payoffs.The Center for Effective Lawmaking has published new research drawing on data from the 93rd-114th Congresses (1973-2016). We explore whether attracting a larger proportion of cosponsors from the opposing party helps Senators and Representatives advance their…

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April 22, 2021

Conversations with Lawmakers

Discussing Legislative Effectiveness with Senator Gary Peters

Discussing Legislative Effectiveness with Senator Gary Peters Senator Gary Peters, a Democrat who has served Michigan in the House since 2009, and served in the Senate since 2015, was named the most effective Senator in the 116th Congress. We had the opportunity to interview the Senator about legislative effectiveness, bipartisanship, bridging House-Senate differences, and more. Watch the next interview in our Conversations with Lawmakers series as Professors Craig Volden (UVA) and Alan E. Wiseman (Vanderbilt University), Co-Directors of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, and the Senator discuss a wide array…

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April 15, 2021

Legislative Effectiveness Scores

WATCH: A Discussion on the Most Effective Lawmakers of the 116th Congress

WATCH: A Conversation on the Most Effective Lawmakers of the 116th Congress On March 22, 2021, the Center for Effective Lawmaking's new research was the feature of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy's Batten Hour. In this one-hour public event, Co-Director Craig Volden shared our newest legislative effectiveness scores and CEL Faculty Affiliate and UVA Professor Gerry Warburg shared his thoughts based on years of experience on The Hill.The discussion was lively, interesting and provided great insight as to how the research of the Center for Effective…

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March 31, 2021

Legislative Effectiveness Scores

Highlights from the New 116th Congress Legislative Effectiveness Scores

Highlights from the New 116th Congress Legislative Effectiveness Scores The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is pleased to announce the release of the Legislative Effectiveness Scores (LES) for the recently-completed 116th Congress (2019-21). As in all previous releases, the scores are based on the combination of fifteen metrics regarding the bills that each member of Congress sponsors, how far they move through the lawmaking process, and how substantial their policy proposals are. The scores are normalized to an average value of 1.0 in both the House and the Senate. More…

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March 10, 2021

Events / Legislative Research

Reforming Congress, A Conversation with Sunwater Institute

Reforming Congress, A Conversation with Sunwater Institute The Center for Effective Lawmaking’s Co-Directors, Professor Craig Volden and Professor Alan E. Wiseman, had the opportunity to engage in an in-depth conversation with Matthew Chervenak, Founder & President of the Sunwater Institute, about Congressional reform and what concerns and recommendations we can identify based on the research at the CEL. In a two-part video series, now available online, the dialogue touches on everything from what motivated the CEL Co-Directors to bring rigorous data analysis on lawmaking effectiveness to the field of political…

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February 17, 2021

Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Effectiveness Scores / Legislative Research

Being an Effective Lawmaker from Day One: A Guide for New Members of Congress

Being an Effective Lawmaker from Day One: A Guide for New Members of Congress The CEL is grateful for the willingness of members of Congress to engage in public service at this crucial time. We congratulate the newly-elected members of the 117th Congress. In conjunction with the start of the new legislative session, we are excited to announce the release of our new and comprehensive New Member Guide.This guide offers our best advice for how new members can become effective lawmakers. We scoured all of the materials presented in previous new…

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January 26, 2021

Uncategorized

CEL Statement Condemning the Capitol Hill Insurrection

CEL Statement Condemning the Capitol Hill Insurrection The Center for Effective Lawmaking works to help build a Congress that is comprised of effective lawmakers, has strong institutional capacity, and possesses the incentive structure that is needed to address America’s greatest public policy challenges. The assault on the Capitol on January 6 and surrounding events show us how far we still have to go to achieve this vision. We strongly condemn the violence as well as the hatred and lies that led to the attack. There can be no effective lawmaking…

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January 7, 2021

Conversations with Lawmakers

Discussing Legislative Effectiveness with Representative French Hill

Discussing Legislative Effectiveness with Representative French Hill Congressman French Hill (R-AR2) has a unique background. Not only is the Representative a businessman, Vanderbilt alumnus, and graduate from UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management, Congressman Hill also has significant experience as a former staffer on Capitol Hill. Representative Hill served as an aide to Republican Senator John Tower; was a staffer on the Senate Banking then the Housing and Urban Affairs Committee; served as executive secretary to President George H. W. Bush’s Economic Policy Council; and was Deputy Assistant Secretary of…

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December 18, 2020

University of Virginia+Vanderbilt University

University of Virginia
+
Vanderbilt University