CEL at POLE Project Conference
Last week, Vanderbilt University Professor and Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) co-director Alan Wiseman was a presenter and panelist at the conference of the Patterns of Legislative Effectiveness (POLE) Project, which took place on October 28 and 29, 2024 at ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon in Lisbon, Portugal.
POLE is a comparative study of legislators’ activities and performances in parliamentary systems. This research project sets as its main goal to unravel the complexities surrounding the behavior of MPs in parliamentary systems, shedding light on how they balance their roles as representatives of their constituencies and members of political parties. More specifically, the study aims to understand the nuances of MPs’ activities and their legislative effectiveness in office. The project team used the conference to present the main results of their analysis of legislative effectiveness in Ireland, and Portugal. To achieve these objectives, they used their Legislative Effectiveness Score for Proportional Systems (LESPS) model, based on the Legislative Effectiveness Scores (LES) developed by Professor Wiseman and CEL co-director Craig Volden.
For his presentation, “Legislative Effectiveness in the United States”, Professor Wiseman spoke about, the mission of the CEL; the construction of our Legislative Effectiveness Scores (LES); our current and future work on the state level; and a selection of CEL working papers, with a particular focus on one he co-authored with co-director Craig Volden and Graduate Affiliate Patrick Buhr, “Polarization and Lawmaking Effectiveness in the United States Congress“, in which the authors explore the lawmaking effectiveness of ideologically conservative Republicans compared to their more ideologically moderate counterparts.
The following day, Professor Wiseman took part in a roundtable discussion on the challenges and opportunities associated with conducting legislative studies; the other panelists included Professor Simon Hug of the University of Geneva, political scientist Patrícia Calca of the University Institute of Lisbon, and Professor Simon Hix of the European University Institute. Moderated by Shota Kakabadze, Junior Policy Analyst at the Georgian Institute of Politics, the roundtable panelists engaged with a range of subjects including the ability to study legislators from different countries, the ethical challenges that come with studying public officials, and how to engage with online misinformation, The panel was presented with questions from audience members who consisted of faculty and students from the host institution.
Professor Wiseman and the CEL were grateful to have been a part of the conference and look forward to further collaboration with the researchers as we explore new ways to enhance lawmaking effectiveness at home and abroad.
