Faculty Affiliates – Center for Effective Lawmaking

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 / 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

Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

Legislative Effectiveness, Electoral Anticipation, and Garnering Campaign Advantage in the US Senate

Legislative Effectiveness, Electoral Anticipation, and Garnering Campaign Advantage in the US Senate In this Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper, Assistant Professor (and CEL Affiliate) Carlos Algara of Claremont Graduate University examines if US Senators anticipate an electoral cost for legislative ineffectiveness. Specifically, he determines whether or not they garner electoral payoffs if they act on this electoral incentive by increasing effectiveness prior to re-election. Through analyzing data on Senate primaries since 1980, he concludes that senators do conveniently become more effective before re-election when they are in-cycle and…

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October 29, 2024

Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

Enabling Compromise

Enabling Compromise In this Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper, Assistant Professor (and CEL Faculty Affiliate) Christian Fong and Ph.D. Student Nicolas Hernandez Florez of the University of Michigan examine how lawmakers are able to compromise on legislation despite the fear of backlash from their party’s primary voters. Contrary to common perception, two aspects of congressional politics – partisan agenda control and messaging bills – can help facilitate compromise instead of preventing it. Congressional leadership will put forward messaging bills known as cover bills - bills they know will…

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October 10, 2024

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

Prior Experience and State Legislative Effectiveness

Prior Experience and State Legislative Effectiveness In this Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper, Associate Professor Eric Hansen of Loyola University Chicago and Professor Sarah Treul of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (and CEL Faculty Affiliate) examine how the prior experiences of lawmakers affect their performance in office. Elected representatives who have professional backgrounds in fields closely related to lawmaking—specifically law, government, or politics—or who held prior office seem to have an advantage in winning elections, but it is unclear that such experience makes them better…

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September 9, 2024

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

Gendered Perceptions of Legislative Influence

Gendered Perceptions of Legislative Influence In this Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper, Faculty Affiliate Jaclyn Kaslovsky (Washington University in St. Louis), Tabitha Koch (Rice University), and Michael P. Olson (Washington University in St. Louis) examine whether legislative and electoral accomplishments translate into perceived influence differently for women and men. Women legislators often report that they must work harder than men to achieve the same outcomes and recognition. Existing research supports this argument in their interactions with voters, yet little previous scholarship has examined whether this expectations gap also…

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August 20, 2024

Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Research

Meet our Research Affiliate: Connor Phillips

Meet our Research Affiliate: Connor Halloran Phillips The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is excited to announce one of our newest research affiliates, Connor Halloran Phillips. He is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Political Science and Center for Effective Lawmaking at Vanderbilt University. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Princeton University’s Center for the Study of Democratic Politics. His research examines interest groups, parties, legislatures, and elections in the US with a focus on how federalism shapes phenomena such as partisan polarization and voter participation. In his…

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August 15, 2024

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Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Arjun Vishwanath

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Arjun Vishwanath The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is delighted to introduce Arjun Vishwanath as one of our newest faculty affiliates, having recently been one of our postdoctoral research affiliates. He is an assistant professor in the Political Science department at Boston University. His research focuses on representation, public opinion, and legislative politics in American politics.Professor Vishwanath is working on a book manuscript on how American citizens’ values are represented by their members of Congress. His other research explores the role of values and ideology in…

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August 9, 2024

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

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Emily Cottle Ommundsen

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Emily Cottle Ommundsen The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is excited to announce that Emily Cottle Ommundsen has joined us as one of our newest faculty affiliates, having recently been one of our graduate affiliates. She currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Mississippi, where her research focuses on American political institutions, particularly congressional representation and institutional capacity. Her research has been published in Legislative Studies Quarterly, Political Behavior, and PS: Political Science & Politics. Professor Ommundsen earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in…

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August 7, 2024

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

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Michael Kistner

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Michael Kistner The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is pleased to announce Michael Kistner as one of our newest faculty affiliates. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Houston. He studies representation, policymaking, and the influence of money in American legislatures (both in Congress and the states). In Professor Kistner's award-winning book manuscript Paying for the Party: How Fundraising Demands Lead to Less Productive and Representative Legislatures, Kistner explores the causes and consequences of party-driven fundraising demands. His research has been…

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August 7, 2024