Legislative Effectiveness – Page 4 – Center for Effective Lawmaking

Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

Just How Unorthodox? Assessing Lawmaking on Omnibus Spending Bills

Just How Unorthodox? Assessing Lawmaking on Omnibus Spending Bills Scholars commonly observe that lawmaking in Congress has transitioned from the textbook system of “regular order” in which power was decentralized in committees and lawmaking followed a formal process to one of “unorthodox lawmaking” characterized by the centralization of power in party leaders and a lack of formal process. It is debated whether this change marks a decline in Congress’s lawmaking capacity, or is a procedural adaptation that has allowed Congress to remain productive despite high levels of partisanship. In this…

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June 21, 2023

Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

The Legislative Success of “Giant Killers”

The Legislative Success of “Giant Killers” Incumbent members of Congress are difficult to defeat in elections: since the early 1970s, fewer than 10 percent of all those who have run against them have been successful. In this paper, Sean Theriault, Professor at The University of Texas at Austin and Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) Faculty Affiliate, along with Jared Hrebenar and Isabel Reyna, examine the legislative effectiveness of those rare challengers who knock off incumbents they nickname “Giant Killers” and find that they have greater than expected legislative success after…

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June 20, 2023

Conference / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

The CEL’s 2023 Award for Best Publication on Effective Lawmaking

The CEL's 2023 Award for Best Publication on Effective Lawmaking The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) was excited to announce the recipient of the 2023 Award for the Best Publication on Effective Lawmaking at our Fifth Annual Research Conference, at Vanderbilt University on June 5, 2023. The recipient of this year’s award is Todd Makse of Florida International University, for his 2022 article in Political Research Quarterly titled “Instant Credibility: The Conditional Role of Professional Background in Policymaking Success.”In this work, Makse posits the hypothesis that lawmakers can gain credibility…

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June 15, 2023

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 Anaylsis / Legislative Research

Logrolling in Congress

Logrolling in Congress Logrolling is a form of cooperation among politicians that plays a role in the legislative process, being a manifestation of the web of alliances that legislators make to pass bills for their constituencies. This paper from Professor Marco Battaglini (Cornell University), Assistant Professor Valerio Leone Sciabolazza (Sapienza University of Rome), and Professor Eleonora Patacchini (also Cornell) studies logrolling among members of the U.S. Congress by tracking roll-call votes within bills across five legislatures and politicians’ personal connections made via their alumni networks. The authors document a propensity…

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May 12, 2023

Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

Are Workers Effective Lawmakers?

Are Workers Effective Lawmakers? Throughout the country's history, some politicians and elites have argued that white-collar Americans are more qualified than working-class Americans to govern. To date, however, relatively little is known about the legislative effectiveness of working-class lawmakers. To address this knowledge gap, Jacob M. Lollis, a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia, creates a data set merging the occupational background of over 14,000 individual state legislators with their state legislative effectiveness score (SLES) as designed by the CEL. He finds that working-class…

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May 10, 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