Center Affiliates – Center for Effective Lawmaking

Cover Bills

Cover Bills Tuesday, April 21, 2026Legislators sometimes vote on bills that fail but, in the process, allow lawmakers to take an extreme position before ultimately voting to compromise. These proposals are commonly known as cover bills. Through two survey experiments featured in a newly published paper in Legislative Studies Quarterly, Assistant Professor and Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) Faculty Affiliate Christian Fong and PhD candidate Nicolas Florez (both of the University of Michigan) show that primary voters are more supportive of a compromiser if that legislator first votes for a cover…

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April 21, 2026

Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Research / State Legislative Effectiveness Scores / State Legislatures

When Process Becomes Power: Rules, Parties, and Legislative Effectiveness

When Process Becomes Power: Rules, Parties, and Legislative Effectiveness While majority party success is often shaped by numerical advantages and cohesion, there is academic discussion on the additional causal factors behind it. In this Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper, Nicholas Howard, Assistant Professor at Concordia College, and Tessa Provins, Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona and CEL Faculty Affiliate, examine how chamber rules structure the legislative environment for both parties at each stage of the legislative process. This study argues that chamber rules do more than simply…

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March 31, 2026

About the CEL / Center Affiliates

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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February 24, 2026

Board of Advisors / Center Affiliates / Events / Video

CEL Summary: A View from the Executive and Legislative Branches

Shuwanza Goff and Craig Volden (from left to right). CEL Summary: A View from the Executive and Legislative Branches Monday, February 16, 2026On Monday, February 9, the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) held a presentation entitled “A View from the Executive and Legislative Branches” as part of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy’s Batten Hour series. The panel discussion featured Shuwanza Goff, a veteran congressional staffer and former director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs under President Joe Biden who now serves on the CEL…

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February 16, 2026

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

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

Center Affiliates / Events / Faculty Affiliates

CEL at APSA 2025

CEL at APSA 2025 Tuesday, October 21, 2025Between September 11-14, the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) attended the annual American Political Science Association (APSA) conference in Vancouver, Canada titled “Reimagining Politics, Power, and Peoplehood in Crisis Times”. The event allowed for more than 5,000 political scientists, scholars, and experts across the discipline to participate and showcase their works to the broader audience, with panels and presentations that included the following from CEL affiliates (and others):Accountability in Darkness: The Effects of Local Media Closures on Legislators – Kisoo Kim (University of Virginia)Congressional…

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October 21, 2025

Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates

Meet our Research Affiliate: Kisoo Kim

Meet our Research Affiliate: Kisoo Kim The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is excited to announce our newest research affiliate, Kisoo Kim.Dr. Kim is a postdoctoral research associate at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. His research examines how elections and political information hold representatives accountable in democratic systems. He uses econometric methods for causal inference to study how democratic institutions shape elected officials’ behavior, with a focus on legislators' policy positions and legislative productivity. He earned his Ph.D. from the Harris…

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September 25, 2025

Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: SoRelle Gaynor

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: SoRelle Wyckoff Gaynor The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is pleased to announce SoRelle Wyckoff Gaynor as one of our newest faculty affiliates.Dr. Gaynor is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the University of Virginia Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, where she specializes in the U.S. Congress and political institutions. Her research focuses on congressional leadership, institutional reform, and partisan communication, and has been published in the Journal of Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Electoral Studies, and other outlets. She is an author…

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September 24, 2025