Legislative Research – Center for Effective Lawmaking

CEL presentation to the LEGIS Congressional Fellows 2025

CEL presentation to the LEGIS Congressional Fellows 2025 On Friday, April 25, 2025, the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) gave our annual presentation to the LEGIS Congressional Fellowship program at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. The LEGIS program is composed of a bipartisan group of professionals from government agencies selected by offices in both chambers of Congress to learn about the lawmaking process and serve as subject-matter policy experts for legislators. Co-director Craig Volden, Professor at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of…

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May 7, 2025

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

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

Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

Understanding the Policy Priorities of Republican Women in the US House of Representatives

Understanding the Policy Priorities of Republican Women in the US House of Representatives Wednesday, March 19, 2025In this published paper in Politics & Gender, Professor Michele Swers of Georgetown University and Associate Professor (and CEL Faculty Affiliate) Danielle Thomsen of the University of California, Irvine take a deep dive into the sponsorship and cosponsorship activity of Republicans in the US House of Representatives from 1993–2014 to examine how ideology and gender influence the policy priorities of Republican legislators on issues associated with women, as well as on the party-owned issue…

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March 19, 2025

Blog / Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis

Niskanen Center: Congress at a Crossroads

Niskanen Center: Congress at a Crossroads Monday, March 10The Niskanen Center has released a series of essays for their March issue of Hypertext about the culture of the legislative body and political changes being advanced by the Trump administration, all of which pose important discussions related to effective lawmaking. As stated by David Dagan, Niskanen’s Director of Editorial and Academic Affairs:“Congress faces this moment rife with contradictions. It is outwardly deeply partisan, but below the surface, still capable of a great deal of bipartisan legislation. Authority is highly centralized with party…

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March 10, 2025

Blog / Conference / Events / State Legislatures

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

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