Research – Center for Effective Lawmaking

CEL Research Affiliate Wins MPSA Award

CEL Research Affiliate Wins MPSA Award Arjun Vishwanath, a Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) research affiliate and a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Political Science at Vanderbilt University, has been given the award for Best Paper in American Politics by the Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) for research presented at their 2023 Annual Conference. His article, "The Impact of Values on Issue Stances: Evidence from Panel Studies," tests the role of political values as a driver of issue attitudes relative to two commonly posited sources of such attitudes…

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March 18, 2024

The Conditional Lawmaking Benefits of Party Faction Membership in Congress

The Conditional Lawmaking Benefits of Party Faction Membership in Congress In this new Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) paper published in Political Research Quarterly, CEL co-directors Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman of the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University respectively, alongside Lafayette College’s Andrew Clark (also a CEL Faculty Affiliate), examine how joining a party faction can impact a lawmaker’s effectiveness. Party faction membership has been shown to increase lawmakers' electoral success, but this paper investigates if the benefits persist once those lawmakers enter Congress. The authors’ research tests three…

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February 14, 2024

Legislative Research

2023-2024 Small Grant Awards Announced

2023-2024 Small Grant Awards Announced The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is proud to present its 6th annual small grant awards and recipients. The awards are given to distinguished individuals who are researching topics which connect to the mission of the CEL to advance the generation, communication, and use of new knowledge about the effectiveness of individual lawmakers and legislative institutions. This group will join previous grant recipients who have made insightful contributions to the field and broadened the discussions around the topics within it. We are honored to support…

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November 15, 2023

Center Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

I’m Coming Out! How Voter Discrimination Produces Effective LGBTQ Lawmakers

I’m Coming Out! How Voter Discrimination Produces Effective LGBTQ Lawmakers In this Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper, the University of Virginia's Jacob Lollis and Mackenzie Dobson (CEL Graduate Affiliate) look into the effectiveness of LGBTQ lawmakers. The authors expand on earlier research that connects voter discrimination to effective lawmaking and argue that the prejudice that LGBTQ legislators face from voters enables them to be effective lawmakers. To test this, Lollis and Dobson take data on state legislators’ sexual identity and compare it to data on state legislative effectiveness…

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October 31, 2023

About the CEL / Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Andrew Pennock

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Andrew Pennock The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is excited to introduce one of our newest faculty affiliates, Andrew Pennock. Currently, he serves as an Associate Professor of Public Policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia (UVA). While at UVA, Professor Pennock has leveraged his relationship with Virginia state legislators to establish Batten as an influential force for policy development in the state. He serves in a number of capacities at UVA including as an elected member…

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October 27, 2023

About the CEL / Center Affiliates

Meet our Research Affiliates: Fred Gui and Arjun Vishwanath

Meet our Research Affiliates: Fred Gui and Arjun Vishwanath The Center for Effective Lawmaking is happy to introduce Fred Gui and Arjun Vishwanath as two of our newest postdoctoral research affiliates.Fred Gui is a postdoctoral research associate at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. His research interests include American political institutions, interest groups, state and local politics, and racial and ethnic politics. His most recent project examines the impact of having racial diverse staffers on the corresponding legislators' choices to sponsor and…

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October 12, 2023

About the CEL / Faculty Affiliates

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Ju Yeon (Julia) Park

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Ju Yeon (Julia) Park The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is excited to introduce Ju Yeon (Julia) Park as one of our newest Faculty Affiliates. Professor Park is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science at Ohio State University. Previously, she has served as an Assistant Professor of Government at the University of Essex in Colchester, UK, and received her doctoral degree in Politics from New York University in New York, NY. Professor Park has also completed postdoctoral research at both the University…

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October 10, 2023

About the CEL / Faculty Affiliates

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Christian Fong

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Christian Fong The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is happy to announce one of our newest Faculty Affiliates, Christian Fong. He is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan, teaching classes at both the undergraduate and PhD level. Previously, as an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow, Professor Fong served as an economic policy advisor to Senator Mike Lee. In addition, he spent three years as a Graduate Research Fellow for the National Science Foundation and completed a PhD in Political Economics at the…

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October 9, 2023

Blog / Events / Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Research / Video

WATCH: A Discussion on the Gender Gap in Political Ambition

WATCH: A Discussion on the Gender Gap in Political Ambition On March 29, 2022, Center for Effective Lawmaking Co-Director Craig Volden interviewed CEL Faculty Affiliate and UVA Professor Jennifer Lawless about the new report she co-authored, "The Gender Gap and Political Ambition." The discussion centered around why, as stated in the report, "men continue to be much more interested than women in running for elective office," her own experiences as a candidate for Congress, and what we can learn to narrow the gap. Watch below to view the discussion and…

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April 7, 2022

About the CEL

Center for Effective Lawmaking 2020-2021 Annual Report

Center for Effective Lawmaking 2020-2021 Annual Report Welcome to this year's Center for Effective Lawmaking Annual Report.Like our past annual reports, this overview represents our means of spreading the word about the accomplishments, broad goals, and future plans for the Center. During a year when so many people around the world felt distant from one another, we could not be more thankful for the close community of those who continue to work with us to advance the Center’s work. In our newest annual report you can:Read testimonials from our research assistants, post-doctoral…

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November 12, 2021

University of Virginia+Vanderbilt University

University of Virginia
+
Vanderbilt University