Center for Effective Lawmaking

Call for 2026-2027 Small Grant Awards

Call for 2026-2027 Small Grant Awards Proposal deadline: October 15, 2026Awards announced by: November 15, 2026The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) welcomes applications for grants to fund research consistent with the mission of the Center. The Center advances the generation, communication, and use of new knowledge about the effectiveness of individual lawmakers and U.S. legislative institutions. See our website (www.thelawmakers.org) for more on the CEL.The research receiving support must focus on effective lawmaking and must be designed to make an original scholarly contribution, generating and communicating new knowledge. We are…

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Meet our Research Affiliates: Jordon Newton and Kisoo Kim

Meet our Research Affiliates: Jordon Newton and Kisoo Kim The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is excited to announce our newest research affiliate, Dr. Jordon Newton, and the recent move of our current research affiliate, Dr. Kisoo Kim.Jordon Newton is a postdoctoral fellow at Vanderbilt University. His research examines how American political institutions shape representation by structuring the behavior of political elites and citizens. His current projects focus on how institutional rules and election laws influence democratic outcomes at the federal and state level, and the ways that local political…

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Meet Our Graduate Affiliates: Chloe Lola Browne and Wahinya Njau

Meet Our Graduate Affiliates: Chloe Lola Browne and Wahinya Njau Tuesday, September 1, 2026The Center for Effective Lawmaking is excited to introduce Chloe Lola Browne and Wahinya Njau as two of our newest Graduate Affiliates.Browne is a doctoral student at the University of Virginia studying American political institutions and research methodology. Her research interests include state politics, policy diffusion, and quantitative methodology. Prior to attending the University of Virginia, Browne was a Policy Fellow with the Correlates of State Policy Project for the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research. She also…

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Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Jacob Lollis

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Jacob Lollis The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is pleased to announce Jacob Lollis as one of our newest faculty affiliates. Jacob Lollis is an Assistant Professor of Political Science in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Cincinnati, where he studies American political institutions, with a focus on representation, legislative behavior, and effective lawmaking. His current research examines the consequences of descriptive representation, the dynamics of bipartisanship, and the conditions that facilitate effective lawmaking in the U.S. Congress. Dr. Lollis earned his…

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Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Mackenzie Dobson

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Mackenzie Dobson The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is pleased to announce Mackenzie Dobson as one of our newest faculty affiliates, having recently been one of our graduate research affiliates. Mackenzie R. Dobson is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Her research centers on bipartisan collaboration, effective lawmaking, and political representation in American legislatures. She studies how legislators build relationships across party lines, how those relationships shape policymaking and legislative success across policy areas, and how reform efforts, including those aimed…

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Meet our new Advisory Board Member: Eileen Chou

Meet our new Advisory Board Member: Eileen Chou Thursday, August 20, 2026The Center for Effective Lawmaking is excited to welcome Eileen Chou to our Board of Advisors.Dr. Chou is the interim dean of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia, leading a multidisciplinary faculty of scholars and practitioners committed to creating new knowledge, developing ethical and effective leaders, and advancing solutions to humanity’s greatest policy challenges.An award-winning scholar of organizational behavior, Dr. Chou studies the social, psychological, and organizational mechanisms that shape leadership,…

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The CEL’s 2026 Award for Best Publication on Effective Lawmaking
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The CEL’s 2026 Award for Best Publication on Effective Lawmaking

The CEL's 2026 Award for Best Publication on Effective Lawmaking Wednesday, July 1, 2026The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2026 Award for the Best Publication on Effective Lawmaking. The recipients of this year’s award are Charles R. Hunt (Boise State University) and Kristina C. Miler (University of Maryland and CEL Faculty Affiliate) for their article in the Journal of Politics, “How Modern Lawmakers Advertise Their Legislative Effectiveness to Constituents.”In the paper, the authors explain how in a complex information environment, members of…

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Advancing the Study of Effective Lawmaking: Highlights from CEL’s 8th Annual Research Conference
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Advancing the Study of Effective Lawmaking: Highlights from CEL’s 8th Annual Research Conference

Group photo outside the UVA Colonnade Club (Photo by John Robinson, Batten School). Advancing the Study of Effective Lawmaking: Highlights from CEL’s 8th Annual Research Conference Tuesday, June 30, 2026Charlottesville, VA – On Monday, June 22nd, 2026, the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) hosted its 8th annual research conference at the University of Virginia (UVA). The conference brought together researchers and practitioners from around the country to share their latest research findings and to discuss trends in effective lawmaking in the U.S. Congress and state legislatures. The morning opened with remarks…

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Meet our Program Specialist for State Legislatures: Caroline Clements

Meet our Program Specialist for State Legislatures: Caroline Clements The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is pleased to introduce Caroline Clements as our new Program Specialist for State Legislatures. In this role, she will work to discover ways to promote good governance at the state level. Prior to joining the CEL, Caroline worked at a boutique public affairs and communications firm in Nashville. In 2023, Caroline graduated magna cum laude from Swanee: The University of the South, where she studied political science with a focus on law, justice, and national…

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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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