Blog – Center for Effective Lawmaking

Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

Legislative Effectiveness and Informal Institutions: Evidence from Latin America

Legislative Effectiveness and Informal Institutions: Evidence from Latin America Tuesday, January 6, 2026In fragmented presidential systems, there is discussion about why some legislators are more effective than others. In an article published in Latin American Politics and Society, Beatriz Rey examines Brazil’s highly fractionalized party system to understand how lawmakers advance legislation when parties fail to provide sufficient coordination. The study argues that legislative member organizations (LMOs) supply policy expertise and political information that parties often lack, enabling legislators to sponsor and shepherd bills more effectively. Rey tests this argument…

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January 6, 2026

About the CEL

2025: A Year in Review

2025: A Year in Review As 2025 draws to a close, we at the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) wanted to take the time to reflect on our accomplishments this year. These included, but were not limited, to the following:Updating our Legislative Effectiveness Scores for the 118th Congress (including for issue areas) and sharing our congressional New Member Guide with every newly elected member of the House and Senate, as well as at regularly held briefings and sessions with congressional staff.Announcing the release of our State Legislative Effectiveness Scores, with individual reports on California, Georgia, Illinois, Montana,…

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December 19, 2025

Conversations with Lawmakers / State Legislatures

Discussing Effective Lawmaking with Montana Representative Steve Fitzpatrick

Discussing Effective Lawmaking with Montana Representative Steve Fitzpatrick Representative Steve Fitzpatrick, a Republican member of the Montana State House of Representatives, has been serving in the Montana state legislature since 2011. He first served three terms in the Montana House of Representatives, representing District 20 from 2011–2017, followed by two terms in the Montana Senate, representing District 10, from 2017-2025. In 2025, he returned to the House as the Representative for District 24. His colleagues have consistently elevated him into leadership roles, including his service as House Majority Whip from…

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December 18, 2025

State Legislative Effectiveness Scores / State Legislatures

Announcing the Release of the 246th New York State Legislature State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES)

Announcing the Release of the 246th New York State Legislature State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES) The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is proud to announce the release of our State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES) for the 246th New York State Legislature legislative session (2023–2024). This initiative is part of our broader effort to measure the lawmaking effectiveness of individual legislators in all 99 state legislative chambers in the United States. These scores capture lawmaking effectiveness by tracking the number of bills legislators sponsor, how far those bills advance through the…

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December 17, 2025

Board of Advisors / Center Affiliates / Events / Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research / Video

The Money Signal—How Fundraising Matters in American Politics

(l-r) Kevin Kosar, Molly Reynolds, Danielle Thomsen, and Daniel Stid. The Money Signal—How Fundraising Matters in American Politics Thursday, December 11, 2025On Thursday, December 4, 2025, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) held a panel discussion to mark the publication of a book written by Danielle M. Thomsen, Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Irvine and Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) faculty affiliate and advisory board member. Titled “The Money Signal—How Fundraising Matters in American Politics,” the book examines how congressional fundraising has changed over the years and…

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December 11, 2025

About the CEL

Center for Effective Lawmaking 2025 Annual Report

Center for Effective Lawmaking 2025 Annual Report The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is celebrating another successful year with the release of our annual report. Founded in 2017 as a joint venture between the University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and Vanderbilt University, the Center’s trusted methodology and analyses have been cited in hundreds of news articles and widely used by lawmakers and their staffs, scholars, and many others around the country who care about effective lawmaking.Highlights over the last year include:Updating our Legislative Effectiveness Scores for…

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November 24, 2025

About the CEL / Interest & Legislative Effectiveness Scores / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Effectiveness Scores / Legislative Research

Highlights from the New 118th Congress Interest & Legislative Effectiveness Scores

Highlights from the New 118th Congress Interest & Legislative Effectiveness Scores By Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman, Co-Directors, Center for Effective LawmakingWednesday, November 19, 2025The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is pleased to announce the release of the Interest & Legislative Effectiveness Scores (ILES) in each of 21 different issue areas for the 118th Congress (2023-25). These categories are based on issue area codes from the Comparative Agendas Project with bill issue codings drawn from www.congress.gov. The methodology that we employed to construct these issue-based scores is the same as…

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November 19, 2025

About the CEL / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

2025-2026 Small Grant Awards Announced

2025-2026 Small Grant Awards Announced Thursday, November 13, 2025The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is proud to present its 8th annual small grant awards and recipients. The awards are given to scholars who are researching topics that connect to the mission of the CEL to advance the generation, communication, and use of new knowledge about the effectiveness of individual lawmakers and legislative institutions. This group of scholars will join previous grant recipients who have made insightful contributions to the study of lawmaking effectiveness. We are honored to support the awardees…

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November 13, 2025

Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Melanie Egorin

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Melanie Egorin Thursday, November 6, 2025 The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is pleased to welcome one of our newest faculty affiliates, Melanie Egorin. Melanie Anne Egorin is a professor of practice in public policy at the University of Virginia Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. A nationally recognized strategic and innovative health policy expert with over 25 years of experience, Dr. Egorin served most recently as assistant secretary for legislation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where she was…

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November 6, 2025

Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

The Legislative Success of “Giant Killers” in the U.S. House

The Legislative Success of “Giant Killers” in the U.S. House Monday, November 3, 2025In modern congressional elections, fewer than 10% of candidates who run against sitting members of Congress win and yet they comprise as much as 30% of the House in any given congress. In this forthcoming paper in Political Science Quarterly, Sean Theriault, Professor at The University of Texas at Austin and Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) Faculty Affiliate, along with Jared Hrebenar and Isabel Reyna, examine the legislative effectiveness of those relatively rare challengers who knock off incumbents.…

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November 3, 2025