Legislative Effectiveness – Page 5 – Center for Effective Lawmaking

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…

Comments Off

December 13, 2024

Legislative Anaylsis / State Legislatures

The Concentration of Legislative Effectiveness in the American States

The Concentration of Legislative Effectiveness in the American States In this Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper, Professor Todd Makse of Florida International University and Jacob Lollis of the University of Virginia examine how effective lawmaking is distributed among legislators within a chamber. While legislative effectiveness scores for individual lawmakers are often emphasized, this paper highlights the frequently overlooked importance of evaluating how effectiveness is spread across all members of a legislative body. Through analyzing legislative effectiveness data, the authors develop new measures to assess the concentration and dispersion…

Comments Off

November 14, 2024

(C)H.Dodge,L.Lamsa

Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

Where Bills Die in the U.S. Senate

Where Bills Die in the U.S. Senate To advance their policy goals in the second Trump administration, Republicans are considering how best to organize Congress. One natural obstacle is the Senate, commonly described as “where bills go to die.” The Senate floor, in particular, presents a significant hurdle – with the possibility of legislative holds and the need for either unanimous consent or a lengthy process of filibusters and securing 60 votes for cloture, barring budget reconciliation procedures.To determine how much of a challenge the Senate poses for legislation, a…

Comments Off

November 8, 2024

Conference / Events / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research

CEL at APSA

CEL at APSA On Friday, September 6, the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) held a panel at the annual American Political Science Association (APSA) conference in Philadelphia titled “Effective Lawmaking and Compromise in Congress and the States”. Chaired by CEL Co-director Craig Volden of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia, and with CEL Affiliate Sean Theriault of the University of Texas and CEL Co-director Alan Wiseman of Vanderbilt University acting as discussants, the panel featured political scientists who showcased their original research…

Comments Off

September 10, 2024

Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research / State Legislative Effectiveness Scores

Prior Experience and State Legislative Effectiveness

Prior Experience and State Legislative Effectiveness In this Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper, Associate Professor Eric Hansen of Loyola University Chicago and Professor Sarah Treul of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (and CEL Faculty Affiliate) examine how the prior experiences of lawmakers affect their performance in office. Elected representatives who have professional backgrounds in fields closely related to lawmaking—specifically law, government, or politics—or who held prior office seem to have an advantage in winning elections, but it is unclear that such experience makes them better…

Comments Off

September 9, 2024

Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research / State Legislative Effectiveness Scores

Gendered Perceptions of Legislative Influence

Gendered Perceptions of Legislative Influence In this Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper, Faculty Affiliate Jaclyn Kaslovsky (Washington University in St. Louis), Tabitha Koch (Rice University), and Michael P. Olson (Washington University in St. Louis) examine whether legislative and electoral accomplishments translate into perceived influence differently for women and men. Women legislators often report that they must work harder than men to achieve the same outcomes and recognition. Existing research supports this argument in their interactions with voters, yet little previous scholarship has examined whether this expectations gap also…

Comments Off

August 20, 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…

Comments Off

August 16, 2024

(C)H.Dodge,L.Lamsa

Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Effectiveness Scores / Legislative Research

Effective Lawmaking Behind the Scenes

Effective Lawmaking Behind the Scenes In this Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper, Co-Directors Craig Volden (University of Virginia) and Alan Wiseman (Vanderbilt University), and Faculty Affiliates Mary Kroeger (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill), Erinn Lauterbach (Villanova University), and Kelsey Shoub (University of Massachusetts-Amherst) demonstrate how behind-the-scenes lawmaking has become much more common in the U.S. Congress in recent years, with numerous bills embedded in must-pass legislation. Building on previous political science research, they offer a methodology to identify all bills that are substantially embedded in all laws in both…

Comments Off

July 16, 2024

About the CEL / State Legislative Effectiveness Scores

CEL Receives Grant From the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation

CEL Receives Grant From the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation recently committed a three-year $1.5 million grant to the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) for our State Legislative Effectiveness Initiative.Since its founding in 2017 as a joint venture between the University of Virginia (UVA)'s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and Vanderbilt University, the CEL has studied and promoted lawmaking effectiveness in the United States. The overwhelming majority of our research and engagement activities to date have been focused on the U.S.…

Comments Off

July 11, 2024

Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Effectiveness Scores / Legislative Research

Legislative Effectiveness: The Elements of Success

Legislative Effectiveness: The Elements of Success The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) co-directors Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman recently wrote an essay titled “Legislative Effectiveness: The Elements of Success” which was published in the Summer 2024 issue of the quarterly political journal Democracy as part of the symposium “Revitalizing Political Leadership.” The article examines the role of state legislatures in developing effective lawmakers at both the state and federal levels, based on the analysis of the CEL’s Legislative Effectiveness Scores (which measure lawmaking effectiveness of members of Congress) and the…

Comments Off

June 25, 2024