Congress – Page 5 – Center for Effective Lawmaking

Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

Policymaking Effectiveness and Inter-Branch Communications in the US House: Some Legislators are Objectively Better than Others

Policymaking Effectiveness and Inter-Branch Communications in the US House: Some Legislators are Objectively Better than Others Collaboration is believed to be essential to how Congress works, and members who build large networks have been regarded as more likely to be entrepreneurial and effective policymakers. Yet less is known about how these same skills carry over to non-policymaking activities. In her research paper, Nicole Kalaf-Hughes, Associate Professor at Bowling Green State University, argues the same skills that make legislators effective producers of policy also influence more representational activities. Using data from…

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June 2, 2023

Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

CEL Published Paper: The Bipartisan Path to Effective Lawmaking

CEL Published Paper: The Bipartisan Path to Effective Lawmaking The paper “The Bipartisan Path to Effective Lawmaking” was recently published in the Journal of Politics by University of Chicago Press. Authored by Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) Co-Directors Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman, and Laurel Harbridge-Yong - Associate Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University and CEL Faculty Affiliate - the paper confronts the puzzle of why bipartisanship is alive and well in Congress, despite notable increases in party polarization and rising primary election threats. The authors found the answer…

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June 1, 2023

Blog

Continuity During Chaos: Observations on International Affairs Legislative Effectiveness Scores during the 117th Congress

Continuity During Chaos: Observations on International Affairs Legislative Effectiveness Scores during the 117th Congress With the onset of the war in Ukraine in early 2022 and continued tensions between China and Taiwan, the 117th Congress faced significant foreign policy challenges. Relying on our new approach of tracking embedded legislation (legislation that was absorbed into larger proposals), the Center for Effective Lawmaking found significant congressional action to address Russia-Ukraine and China-Taiwan issues, despite high levels of policy gridlock in this issue area more generally. We identify the most effective lawmakers in…

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May 30, 2023

Legislative Effectiveness Scores / Policy Scores

Highlights from the New 117th Congress Legislative Effectiveness Scores

Highlights from the New 117th Congress Legislative Effectiveness Scores By Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman, Co-Directors, Center for Effective LawmakingThe Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is pleased to announce the release of the Legislative Effectiveness Scores (LES) for the recently completed 117th Congress (2021-23). As in all previous releases, the scores are based on the combination of fifteen metrics regarding the bills that each member of Congress sponsors, how far they move through the lawmaking process, and how substantial their policy proposals are. The scores are normalized to an average…

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March 20, 2023

Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

Deployed to the Hill: How Military Experience Influences Legislative Behavior in Congress

Deployed to the Hill: How Military Experience Influences 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 and their supporters often argue that electing more veterans will help reduce legislative dysfunction and gridlock. Are veteran legislators more effective lawmakers than those who have not served in the military? Are they more bipartisan in their legislative activities? Major Joseph Amoroso, an Instructor of American Politics at the United States Military Academy at…

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March 1, 2023

Events

Tools for Effective Lawmaking

Tools for Effective Lawmaking Last Friday, the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) hosted a forum for congressional staffers at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, D.C. titled “Tools for Effective Lawmaking.” The purpose of the event was to provide attendees with an overview of the CEL, its mission, and its research-driven best practices for effective lawmaking in Congress; and to make staffers aware of other valuable resources that they might draw on in their jobs. In addition to the CEL Co-Directors Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman (who moderated), the…

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February 9, 2023

Board of Advisors

Tom Wickham: A Guide to the Major Issues on Congress’s Opening Day

Tom Wickham: A Guide to the Major Issues on Congress’s Opening Day As the 118th Congress gets underway, the Center for Effective Lawmaking is taking the opportunity to present insights from Tom Wickham, Senior Vice President of state and local policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; he is also a Member of our Advisory Board. Previously, he was the Parliamentarian of the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served in the Parliamentarian’s Office for 25 years, and helped referee 14 different elections for Speaker and advised on all aspects…

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January 2, 2023

Conversations with Lawmakers

Discussing Legislative Effectiveness with Representative Will Hurd

Discussing Legislative Effectiveness with Representative Will Hurd Former Representative Will Hurd served as the U.S. representative for Texas’s 23rd congressional district from 2015 to 2021. Representative Hurd was identified by the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) as being one of the top 10 most effective Republican lawmakers in the U.S. House during his first term in Congress, as well as being the third most effective freshman lawmaker within his class. CEL Co-Directors Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman recently sat down with Representative Hurd to discuss his time in Congress. Among…

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September 14, 2022

Blog / Conversations with Lawmakers / Events / Video

WATCH: Race & Political Representation Inside & Outside of Congress

WATCH: Race & Political Representation Inside & Outside of Congress On March 31, 2022, Alan Wiseman, Co-Director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) moderated a discussion at Vanderbilt University where a distinguished group of panelists explored how those advocating for underrepresented groups have made progress inside and outside of Congress. The panel included Michael Eric Dyson, Centennial Chair and University Distinguished Professor of African American and Diaspora Studies and University Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Society at Vanderbilt University; Michael Minta, professor of political science at the University of…

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April 13, 2022

Conversations with Lawmakers

Representative Barney Frank & Journalist Robert Kaiser Discuss Legislative Effectiveness

Representative Barney Frank and Journalist Robert Kaiser Discuss Legislative Effectiveness For the next in our “Conversations with Effective Lawmakers” Series, we reach back into the vault of interviews conducted by the Center for Effective Lawmaking. In this case, we present an interview conducted by CEL Co-Directors Alan Wiseman and Craig Volden in spring of 2019.We had the pleasure of sitting down for a wide-ranging conversation with former member of Congress, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), and with Washington Post reporter and award-winning author Robert Kaiser. Kaiser’s book Act of Congress focuses…

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September 29, 2021