Legislative Effectiveness – Center for Effective Lawmaking

Advancing Our Understanding of State Legislative Effectiveness

Advancing Our Understanding of State Legislative Effectiveness Thursday, February 27th, 2025 On Friday, February 21st, the Center for Effective Lawmaking hosted the Effective Lawmaking in American State Legislatures conference at Vanderbilt University, bringing together faculty and doctoral students from across the country to explore the complexities of policymaking at the state level. With attendees presenting and discussing their latest findings, the event served as an important platform for advancing our understanding of what drives legislative success in state governments. Reflecting on the broader mission of the Center for Effective Lawmaking,…

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February 27, 2025

Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research / State Legislative Effectiveness Scores / State Legislatures

Legislative Effectiveness in the American States (Published Paper)

Legislative Effectiveness in the American States (Published Paper) The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is excited to announce that our "Legislative Effectiveness in the American States" paper has been published by the American Political Science Review. This paper, written by CEL Co-Directors Craig Volden (UVA Frank Batten School) and Alan Wiseman (Vanderbilt University), and research consultant Peter Bucchianeri, serves as the basis of our State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES) used to analyze state legislators across 97 legislative chambers over recent decades, based on the number of bills that they sponsor,…

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February 12, 2025

Events / Legislative Anaylsis

CEL Presentation to Charlottesville NOW

CEL Presentation to Charlottesville NOW Thursday, February 6, 2025 On Tuesday, February 4, Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) Co-Director and UVA Frank Batten School Professor Craig Volden gave a presentation to the Charlottesville chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW). The organization engages in the fight for women's rights, and works with its members and partners with other organizations to push for social change. Professor Volden's presentation, entitled “The Keys to Effective Lawmaking in Congress and the Virginia General Assembly,” explained the mission of the CEL, the construction of our Legislative…

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February 6, 2025

Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis

Hearings on the Hill: The Politics of Informing Congress

Hearings on the Hill: The Politics of Informing Congress How do legislators, who are not policy experts, gather the information needed to make informed decisions? In a highly partisan environment, the flow of information in Congress is shaped by political competition, party leaders, and interest groups. Committees and hearings play a critical role in acquiring and disseminating this information, ultimately influencing the development of public policy in a democracy. In this new book, Assistant Professor Pamela Ban of the University of California, San Diego, Assistant Professor Ju Yeon Park of…

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February 4, 2025

Conference / Events / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research / State Legislatures

CEL at the Legislative Leadership Program

CEL at the Legislative Leadership Program Monday, February 3, 2025Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) Co-Director Alan Wiseman recently presented at Michigan State University’s Legislative Leadership Program (LLP). Residing under the Michigan State University’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research College of Social Science (IPPSR) since its 1994 inception, the LLP invites new members of Michigan’s House of Representatives and Senate to engage in interactive small-group sessions with university faculty in the brief time between their election and their first legislative sessions. The program is built upon a series of…

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January 31, 2025

Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

Credit Claiming and Accountability for Legislative Effectiveness

Credit Claiming and Accountability for Legislative Effectiveness Wednesday, January 29, 2025 In this Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper, Associate Professor Elizabeth Simas of Texas A&M University, Assistant Professor Michael Kistner of the University of Houston (and CEL Faculty Affiliate), Instructor of International Affairs David Hilden of West Point Military Academy, and Jamie Wright, Senior Survey Scientist at Morning Consult, examine why effective legislators struggle to convey their legislative accomplishments through credit claiming. Despite survey research showing that voters value legislative effectiveness, constituents often lack awareness of their legislator's…

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January 29, 2025

Legislative Anaylsis

Five Lessons for Lawmakers from Trump I

Five Lessons for Lawmakers from Trump I Center for Effective Lawmaking Co-Directors Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman have published a commentary for the Niskanen Center that examines what lawmakers can expect with the new Trump administration and unified Republican control of government based on the lessons learned from the previous Trump term. This includes:both Republican and Democratic ideas will become law;members of each party can take the lead on their priority issues;the prioritization of lawmaking by Thune and Johnson offers new opportunities;congressional lawmaking is increasingly behind-the-scenes and via omnibus legislation;…

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January 23, 2025

Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis

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

Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

Deployed to the Hill: Military Experience and Legislative Behavior in Congress

Deployed to the Hill: Military Experience and 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, along with their supporters, argue that electing more veterans could help reduce dysfunction and gridlock. They claim that military values, such as duty and teamwork, translate into differences in legislative behavior. But are veteran lawmakers more effective than those without military experience? Are they more bipartisan?In this paper published in Political Research Quarterly and based on a…

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December 16, 2024

Conversations with Lawmakers

Discussing Effective Lawmaking with West Virginia House Speaker Roger Hanshaw

Discussing Effective Lawmaking with West Virginia House Speaker Roger Hanshaw Thursday, December 12, 2024West Virginia House Speaker Roger Hanshaw has served in the West Virginia House of Delegates since 2014, and as House Speaker since 2018. He represents his native Clay County, along with Calhoun and Gilmer Counties, as a Republican in the legislature. During his first term as a delegate, four of his ten sponsored bills became law, making him one of the most effective lawmakers in his freshman class. Since then, he rose to be a top-ten lawmaker…

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December 12, 2024