Blog – Page 2 – Center for Effective Lawmaking

CEL at the Legislative Leadership Program

CEL at the Legislative Leadership Program Monday, February 3, 2025Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) Co-Director Alan Wiseman recently presented at Michigan State University’s Legislative Leadership Program (LLP). Residing under the Michigan State University’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research College of Social Science (IPPSR) since its 1994 inception, the LLP invites new members of Michigan’s House of Representatives and Senate to engage in interactive small-group sessions with university faculty in the brief time between their election and their first legislative sessions. The program is built upon a series of…

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January 31, 2025

Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

Credit Claiming and Accountability for Legislative Effectiveness

Credit Claiming and Accountability for Legislative Effectiveness Wednesday, January 29, 2025 In this Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper, Associate Professor Elizabeth Simas of Texas A&M University, Assistant Professor Michael Kistner of the University of Houston (and CEL Faculty Affiliate), Instructor of International Affairs David Hilden of West Point Military Academy, and Jamie Wright, Senior Survey Scientist at Morning Consult, examine why effective legislators struggle to convey their legislative accomplishments through credit claiming. Despite survey research showing that voters value legislative effectiveness, constituents often lack awareness of their legislator's…

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January 29, 2025

Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

How Modern Lawmakers Advertise Their Legislative Effectiveness to Constituents

How Modern Lawmakers Advertise Their Legislative Effectiveness to Constituents Tuesday, January 28, 2025 In order to be re-elected, lawmakers must inform their constituents on what their intentions are in Congress. Effective representation in Congress goes beyond the traditional metrics of lawmaking. It encompasses a broader range of activities, including advocacy and direct engagement with constituents. Understanding how legislators communicate their multifaceted roles is essential to evaluating their strategies for maintaining public support and securing reelection. But how are lawmakers supposed to showcase their legislative effectiveness to the general public? What…

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January 28, 2025

Legislative Anaylsis

Five Lessons for Lawmakers from Trump I

Five Lessons for Lawmakers from Trump I Center for Effective Lawmaking Co-Directors Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman have published a commentary for the Niskanen Center that examines what lawmakers can expect with the new Trump administration and unified Republican control of government based on the lessons learned from the previous Trump term. This includes:both Republican and Democratic ideas will become law;members of each party can take the lead on their priority issues;the prioritization of lawmaking by Thune and Johnson offers new opportunities;congressional lawmaking is increasingly behind-the-scenes and via omnibus legislation;…

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January 23, 2025

Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis

Interpersonal Relationships, Bipartisanship, and January 6th

Interpersonal Relationships, Bipartisanship, and January 6th Collaboration among colleagues is a cornerstone of effective lawmaking in Congress. Building and maintaining strong interpersonal relationships between legislators is especially important for fostering bipartisan cooperation. However, in the aftermath of the events at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, many Democratic lawmakers expressed reluctance to work with Republican colleagues who opposed certifying the 2020 presidential election results, claiming these actions had irreparably damaged their working relationships. Have these damaged relationships impacted overall legislative effectiveness in Congress? In this forthcoming published paper in the…

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January 21, 2025

About the CEL

2024: A Year in Review

2024: A Year in Review As 2024 draws to a close, we at the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) wanted to take the time to reflect on our accomplishments this year. This included but was not limited to the following:Announcing the grant from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation for our State Legislative Effectiveness Initiative.Announcing the recipients of our 2024-2025 small grant awards.Introducing new members of our Center Affiliate teams, including Andrew Ballard, Jaclyn Kaslovsky, Michael Kistner, Emily Cottle Ommundsen, and Arjun Vishwanath.Introducing two new post-doctoral fellows for the 2024-2025 Academic Year: Amy Meli and Connor Halloran Phillips.Introducing new members…

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December 19, 2024

Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

Deployed to the Hill: Military Experience and Legislative Behavior in Congress

Deployed to the Hill: Military Experience and Legislative Behavior in Congress Military service is often touted as an important benefit for legislating in Congress. With fewer military veterans serving in Congress, candidates with military experience, along with their supporters, argue that electing more veterans could help reduce dysfunction and gridlock. They claim that military values, such as duty and teamwork, translate into differences in legislative behavior. But are veteran lawmakers more effective than those without military experience? Are they more bipartisan?In this paper published in Political Research Quarterly and based on a…

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December 16, 2024

Conversations with Lawmakers

Discussing Effective Lawmaking with West Virginia House Speaker Roger Hanshaw

Discussing Effective Lawmaking with West Virginia House Speaker Roger Hanshaw Thursday, December 12, 2024West Virginia House Speaker Roger Hanshaw has served in the West Virginia House of Delegates since 2014, and as House Speaker since 2018. He represents his native Clay County, along with Calhoun and Gilmer Counties, as a Republican in the legislature. During his first term as a delegate, four of his ten sponsored bills became law, making him one of the most effective lawmakers in his freshman class. Since then, he rose to be a top-ten lawmaker…

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December 12, 2024

About the CEL / Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

2024-2025 Small Grant Awards Announced

2024-2025 Small Grant Awards Announced Wednesday, December 4The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is proud to present its 7th 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 and…

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December 4, 2024

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