Effective Lawmakers – Center for Effective Lawmaking

State Legislative Effectiveness Scores / State Legislatures

Announcing the Release of the State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES)

Announcing the Release of the State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES) The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is proud to announce the release of our State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES) — a groundbreaking effort to measure the lawmaking effectiveness of individual legislators in all 99 state legislative chambers in the United States over recent decades. These scores capture the lawmaking effectiveness of the members of each legislature based on the number of bills they sponsor, how far those bills progress through the different stages of the legislative process, and the substantive…

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April 29, 2025

Conversations with Lawmakers

Discussing Effective Lawmaking with Representative Gus Bilirakis

Discussing Effective Lawmaking with Representative Gus Bilirakis Friday, April 24, 2025Representative Gus Bilirakis has represented Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2007, and he currently represents Florida’s 12th congressional district. He has a well-established track record of being successful at advancing his sponsored bills through the legislative process, and he has been identified by the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) as having one of the longest active streaks of being in our prestigious “exceeds expectations” in lawmaking effectiveness category. He has also been often recognized as being the…

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April 24, 2025

Legislative Effectiveness Scores / Legislative Research

Highlights from the New 118th Congress Legislative Effectiveness Scores

Highlights from the New 118th Congress Legislative Effectiveness Scores Tuesday, March 25, 2025The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is pleased to announce the release of the Legislative Effectiveness Scores (LES) for the recently completed 118th Congress (2023-25). This report, written by Co-Directors Craig Volden (of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia) and Alan Wiseman (of the Department of Political Science at Vanderbilt University), offers highlights from our initial analyses of these scores, including:We list the top-10 lawmakers in each party in the House…

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March 25, 2025

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

About the CEL / State Legislative Effectiveness Scores

CEL Receives Grant From the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation

CEL Receives Grant From the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation recently committed a three-year $1.5 million grant to the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) for our State Legislative Effectiveness Initiative.Since its founding in 2017 as a joint venture between the University of Virginia (UVA)'s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and Vanderbilt University, the CEL has studied and promoted lawmaking effectiveness in the United States. The overwhelming majority of our research and engagement activities to date have been focused on the U.S.…

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July 11, 2024

Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Effectiveness Scores / Legislative Research

Legislative Effectiveness: The Elements of Success

Legislative Effectiveness: The Elements of Success The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) co-directors Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman recently wrote an essay titled “Legislative Effectiveness: The Elements of Success” which was published in the Summer 2024 issue of the quarterly political journal Democracy as part of the symposium “Revitalizing Political Leadership.” The article examines the role of state legislatures in developing effective lawmakers at both the state and federal levels, based on the analysis of the CEL’s Legislative Effectiveness Scores (which measure lawmaking effectiveness of members of Congress) and the…

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June 25, 2024

Conversations with Lawmakers

Discussing Effective Lawmaking with Representative Mark Takano

Discussing Effective Lawmaking with Representative Mark Takano Representative Mark Takano has represented California in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2013, and currently serves the 39th congressional district. He has been identified by the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) as being the fifth-most and sixth-most effective Democratic lawmaker in the House in the 116th and 117th Congress, respectively (which convened from 2019-2021 and 2021-2023). He was also identified as being the most effective Democratic House member in these congresses in advancing Defense policy. In addition, he was the most effective…

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May 14, 2024

Conversations with Lawmakers

Discussing Effective Lawmaking with Representative Don Bacon

Discussing Effective Lawmaking with Representative Don Bacon Representative Don Bacon has served as the U.S. Representative for Nebraska’s 2nd congressional district since 2017. He has been identified by the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) as being the most effective Republican lawmaker in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 117th Congress (2021-2023) and the fourth-most effective lawmaker, overall, in the House during the 117th Congress, despite being a member of the minority party at the time. He was also the most successful member of the House in terms of incorporating…

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April 24, 2024

Conversations with Lawmakers

Discussing Legislative Effectiveness with Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen

Discussing Legislative Effectiveness with Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen served as the U.S. representative for Florida’s 18th and 27th congressional districts from 1989 to 2019. She has been identified by the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) with the distinction of being among the top ten most effective Republican lawmakers in the US. House of Representatives in the 110th, 111th, and 112th Congresses (2007 to 2013). She was also identified as the most effective lawmaker in advancing international affairs policy among both Republicans and Democrats in the 112th Congress (2011…

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February 20, 2024