Legislative Effectiveness – Center for Effective Lawmaking

State Legislative Effectiveness Scores / State Legislatures

Announcing the Release of the 103rd Illinois General Assembly State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES)

Announcing the Release of the 103rd Illinois General Assembly State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES) The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is proud to announce the release of our State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES) for the 103rd Illinois General Assembly (2023–2024). This initiative is part of our broader effort to measure the lawmaking effectiveness of individual legislators in all 99 state legislative chambers in the United States.These scores capture lawmaking effectiveness by tracking the number of bills legislators sponsor, how far those bills advance through the legislative process, and the substantive…

Comments Off

October 8, 2025

State Legislative Effectiveness Scores / State Legislatures

Announcing the Release of the 207th Pennsylvania General Assembly State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES)

Announcing the Release of the 207th Pennsylvania General Assembly State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES) The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is proud to announce the release of our State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES) for the 207th Pennsylvania General Assembly (2023–2024). This initiative is part of our broader effort to measure the lawmaking effectiveness of individual legislators in all 99 state legislative chambers in the United States.These scores capture lawmaking effectiveness by tracking the number of bills legislators sponsor, how far those bills advance through the legislative process, and the substantive…

Comments Off

October 1, 2025

Conversations with Lawmakers

Discussing Effective Lawmaking with Nevada Speaker Jason Frierson

Discussing Effective Lawmaking with Nevada Speaker Jason Frierson Speaker Jason Frierson has had an expansive career in public service, including his roles as a state legislator, a federal prosecutor, and as a committed advocate for community engagement. A Democrat, Speaker Frierson served in the Nevada Assembly from 2011 to 2014 and again from 2016 to 2022, where he served as Speaker of the Assembly from 2017 to 2022. In 2022, Speaker Frierson was nominated by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as the United States…

Comments Off

September 18, 2025

Conversations with Lawmakers

Discussing Effective Lawmaking with South Carolina State Senator Katrina Shealy

Discussing Effective Lawmaking with South Carolina State Senator Katrina Shealy Senator Katrina Shealy has been a trailblazer in South Carolina politics, bringing both grit and compassion to her twelve years of service in the state Senate. First elected in 2012 as a petition candidate—making history as the only woman in the chamber at the time—she went on to become the first Republican woman to chair a standing committee in the Senate. Over the course of her tenure, Shealy shaped policy across a wide range of issues, from family and veterans’…

Comments Off

September 4, 2025

Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

On the Decline of Elite-Educated Republicans in Congress

On the Decline of Elite-Educated Republicans in Congress Tuesday, September 2, 2025In a published paper in Perspectives on Politics, Co-Directors Craig Volden (University of Virginia) and Alan Wiseman (Vanderbilt University), and Associate Professor Jonathan Wai, (University of Arkansas) identify a rise in educational polarization among members of the U.S. Congress mirroring the educational polarization in the American mass public. Over the past half century, the percent of Republican Representatives who attended elite educational institutions declined from 40% to 15%. In the Senate, elite education among Republicans declined from 55% to 35%, while the…

Comments Off

September 2, 2025

Blog / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

High Hurdles: Legislative Professionalism and the Effectiveness of Women State Legislators

High Hurdles: Legislative Professionalism and the Effectiveness of Women State Legislators Thursday, August 7, 2025For numerical gains in American state legislatures to translate into substantive representation, women legislators need the ability to advocate for their constituents. In this forthcoming published paper in The Journal of Politics, Associate Professor Robert McGrath (George Mason University), Associate Professor Josh Ryan (Utah State University), and Assistant Professor Jatia Wrighten (Virginia Commonwealth University) examine the determinants of legislative effectiveness in state legislatures, theorizing that women in more professional legislatures will be subject to electoral selection…

Comments Off

August 2, 2025

Blog / Center Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

The Bipartisan Path Revisited: Collaboration and Legislative Effectiveness in the U.S. States

The Bipartisan Path Revisited: Collaboration and Legislative Effectiveness in the U.S. States Monday, July 21, 2025Does bipartisan collaboration enhance legislative success in U.S. state legislatures, as it does in Congress? This Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper extends Harbridge-Yong, Volden, and Wiseman’s (2023) work, which finds that members of Congress are more effective lawmakers when they attract a greater share of cosponsors from the opposing party. Ph.D. candidate (and CEL Graduate Affiliate) Mackenzie R. Dobson adapts their framework to the state level using an original dataset of 401,720 bills…

Comments Off

July 23, 2025

Events / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

Effective Lawmaking and Legislative Negotiations

Effective Lawmaking and Legislative Negotiations Tuesday, July 22, 2025On Wednesday, July 9, the Center for Effective Lawmaking co-hosted a discussion panel on Capitol Hill with the Program on Legislative Negotiation (PLN) and the Partnership for a Secure America (PSA) entitled “A Guide to Effective Lawmaking and Legislative Negotiations.” Panelists discussed the importance of legislative negotiations and other keys to effective lawmaking on Capitol Hill. The panel featured CEL Co-Director Craig Volden (University of Virginia), CEL Co-Director Alan Wiseman (Vanderbilt University), PLN Director Bettina Poirier (American University), and PLN Co-Founder Chris Bertram (American University), who…

Comments Off

July 22, 2025

Conversations with Lawmakers

Discussing Effective Lawmaking with NY Assembly Member Amy Paulin

Discussing Effective Lawmaking With NY Assembly Member Amy Paulin New York Assembly Member Amy Paulin has been a highly effective lawmaker in the New York General Assembly since 2000. She currently chairs the Assembly Committee on Health, and she also serves on the Committee on Rules and the Committee on Education.Throughout her distinguished career, Assembly Member Paulin has pursued a broad and impactful legislative agenda focused on health care, education, reproductive rights, child welfare, family support, domestic violence prevention, the elimination of sex trafficking, government reform, sustainability, animal welfare, and…

Comments Off

July 14, 2025

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

Legislative Effectiveness, Progressive Ambition, and Electoral Success

Legislative Effectiveness, Progressive Ambition, and Electoral Success Monday, June 30, 2025In this Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper, Co-Directors Craig Volden (University of Virginia) and Alan Wiseman (Vanderbilt University), and Faculty Affiliates Danielle Thomsen (University of California-Irvine) and Sarah Treul (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) examine the question of whether effective state lawmakers are more likely than ineffective state lawmakers to be elected to Congress. The authors draw on the CEL's dataset of State Legislative Effectiveness Scores from 1993 to 2018 to examine the relationship between lawmaker effectiveness and the…

Comments Off

June 30, 2025