About the CEL – Center for Effective Lawmaking

Recognizing Innovation in Legislative Research: 2025 Best Publication on Effective Lawmaking Award

Max Goplerud (R) being presented with the CEL’s Best Publication award by co-director Craig Volden (L) (Photo by Anne Rayner). Recognizing Innovation in Legislative Research: 2025 Best Publication on Effective Lawmaking Award The Center for Effective Lawmaking is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2025 Award for Best Publication on Effective Lawmaking, which was presented at our Seventh Annual Research Conference held at Vanderbilt University on Monday, June 2, 2025. This year’s award honors Fang-Yi Chiou (Academia Sinica) and Max Goplerud (University of Texas–Austin) for their article, “Effective Lawmaking…

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June 11, 2025

About the CEL / Center Affiliates / Conference / Events / Faculty Affiliates

Inside the 7th Annual Research Conference at the Center for Effective Lawmaking

Group photo in the Commons Center (photo by Anne Rayner) Advancing the Study of Effective Lawmaking: Highlights from CEL’s 7th Annual Research Conference Nashville, TN – On Monday, June 2nd, 2025, the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) hosted its 7th annual research conference at Vanderbilt University. The conference brought together researchers and practitioners from around the country to share their latest research findings and to discuss trends in effective lawmaking in congress and state legislatures. The morning opened with remarks from CEL co-director Alan Wiseman, Associate Provost of Strategic Projects…

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June 11, 2025

About the CEL / Center Affiliates

Meet our Program Director for State Legislatures: Paige Higginson-Rollins

Meet our Program Director for State Legislatures: Paige Higginson-Rollins The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is pleased to officially introduce Paige Higginson-Rollins as our new Program Director for State Legislatures. In this role, she is dedicated to empowering state legislatures, lawmakers, and stakeholders to improve the effectiveness of legislative institutions.Prior to joining the CEL, Paige worked on public health communications and research initiatives in Michigan and Kentucky. In 2013, she graduated summa cum laude from the University of Kentucky in international relations and economics and earned her master’s degree in…

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February 21, 2025

About the CEL

2024: A Year in Review

2024: A Year in Review As 2024 draws to a close, we at the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) wanted to take the time to reflect on our accomplishments this year. This included but was not limited to the following:Announcing the grant from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation for our State Legislative Effectiveness Initiative.Announcing the recipients of our 2024-2025 small grant awards.Introducing new members of our Center Affiliate teams, including Andrew Ballard, Jaclyn Kaslovsky, Michael Kistner, Emily Cottle Ommundsen, Arjun Vishwanath.Introducing two new post-doctoral fellows for the 2024-2025 Academic Year: Amy Meli, and…

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December 19, 2024

About the CEL / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

2024-2025 Small Grant Awards Announced

2024-2025 Small Grant Awards Announced The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is proud to present its 7th annual small grant awards and recipients. The awards are given to scholars who are researching topics that 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 of scholars will join previous grant recipients who have made insightful contributions to the study of lawmaking effectiveness. We are honored to support the awardees and look forward…

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November 22, 2024

About the CEL / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

Call for 2024-2025 Small Grant Awards

Call for 2024-2025 Small Grant Awards Proposal deadline: September 30, 2024Awards announced by: November 15, 2024The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) welcomes applications for grants to fund research consistent with the mission of the Center. The Center advances the generation, communication, and use of new knowledge about the effectiveness of individual lawmakers and U.S. legislative institutions. See our website (www.thelawmakers.org) for more on the CEL.The research receiving support must focus on effective lawmaking and must be designed to make an original scholarly contribution, generating and communicating new knowledge. We are…

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August 16, 2024

About the CEL / Center Affiliates / Legislative Research

Meet our Research Affiliate: Amy Meli

Meet our Research Affiliate: Amy Meli The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is excited to announce one of our newest research affiliates, Amy Meli. She is a postdoctoral research associate at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. Her research centers around interest groups and the way they influence the political system. Her research projects include an examination of the way involvement in interest groups influences interest group member political efficacy and affective polarization, the relationship between interest groups and the political parties,…

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August 12, 2024

About the CEL / Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Arjun Vishwanath

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Arjun Vishwanath The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is delighted to introduce Arjun Vishwanath as one of our newest faculty affiliates, having recently been one of our postdoctoral research affiliates. He is an assistant professor in the Political Science department at Boston University. His research focuses on representation, public opinion, and legislative politics in American politics.Professor Vishwanath is working on a book manuscript on how American citizens’ values are represented by their members of Congress. His other research explores the role of values and ideology in…

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August 9, 2024

About the CEL / Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Research

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Emily Cottle Ommundsen

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Emily Cottle Ommundsen The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is excited to announce that Emily Cottle Ommundsen has joined us as one of our newest faculty affiliates, having recently been one of our graduate affiliates. She currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Mississippi, where her research focuses on American political institutions, particularly congressional representation and institutional capacity. Her research has been published in Legislative Studies Quarterly, Political Behavior, and PS: Political Science & Politics. Professor Ommundsen earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in…

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August 7, 2024

About the CEL / Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Research

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Michael Kistner

Meet our Faculty Affiliate: Michael Kistner The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is pleased to announce Michael Kistner as one of our newest faculty affiliates. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Houston. He studies representation, policymaking, and the influence of money in American legislatures (both in Congress and the states). In Professor Kistner's award-winning book manuscript Paying for the Party: How Fundraising Demands Lead to Less Productive and Representative Legislatures, Kistner explores the causes and consequences of party-driven fundraising demands. His research has been…

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August 7, 2024