Domestic Policy & Politics Democracy Leadership Ethics Racial Justice and Equity (-) Political Science Facet Area of Focus - News Craig Volden Jennifer Lawless Facet People - News UVA Center for Politics Miller Center School of Education and Human Development School of Law UVA Humanitarian Collaborative (-) Center for Effective Lawmaking Facet UVA Partner - News Research and Commentary Accolades Facet News Type - News Jun 10, 2024 How Effective are America’s State Legislators? Domestic Policy & Politics Political Science The Center for Effective Lawmaking has compiled a massive database to measure the effectiveness of nearly every state legislator in the U.S. Based on the center's trusted methodology developed a decade ago to rank the effectiveness of members of Congress, the project is the first to collect this kind of data at the state level in a comprehensive fashion. Learn more Jul 08, 2022 Volden Wins Honor for Paper That Highlights How Women Policymakers Thrive Political Science Batten's Craig Volden and co-author Rachel Augustine Potter were recognized for their research exploring the effectiveness of female agency leaders. They discuss the "glass walls" effect and the potential implications of their findings. Learn more May 24, 2022 To Run or Not to Run? Not Enough Women Consider Political Office in the First Place. Domestic Policy & Politics Political Science Racial Justice and Equity A new report by Batten School Professor Jennifer Lawless highlights the gender gap in political ambition. The research declares that “politics remains a game for men.” Learn more Jun 17, 2021 Faculty Spotlight: Improving the Way We Make Laws, with Science Political Science Batten Professor Craig Volden no longer designs spacecraft—instead, he’s engineering a metric to combat political gridlock. Learn more Jun 07, 2021 Volden: Experienced Staff Promote Effective Lawmaking Political Science According to research from Batten's Center for Effective Lawmaking, retaining experienced legislative staff is crucial to Congress doing its job better. In an op-ed for The Hill, center co-directors Craig Volden and Alan E. Wiseman say that when it comes to congressional staff, we get what we pay for. Read in The Hill Mar 25, 2021 Volden: Committee Chairs Continue Their Lawmaking Decline Political Science Leadership Committee chairs have long been considered power brokers for lawmaking, but according to research from the Center for Effective Lawmaking, their lawmaking effectiveness is diminishing. In an op-ed for The Hill, Batten's Craig Volden and Vanderbilt University's Alan E. Wiseman write about the trend. Read in The Hill Mar 17, 2021 The “Do-Something” Members of the 116th Congress: Legislative Effectiveness Study from the Batten School and Vanderbilt University Identifies Member Success in Advancing Bills Political Science Leadership Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Gary Peters, D-Mich., along with Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and retired Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., were the most effective Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the recently completed 116th Congress (2019–20), according to new research from Batten's Center for Effective Lawmaking. Learn more Dec 07, 2020 Focus on Cabinet Nominees' Effectiveness and Expertise, Not Just Ideology Political Science Leadership As President-elect Joe Biden’s cabinet nominees have been named, much of the discussion has been about their ideological leanings. In an article for The Hill, Batten's Craig Volden and Vanderbilt University's Alan E. Wiseman, co-directors of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, outline why these ideological discussions are too narrow a focus. Read In The Hill Sep 18, 2020 Members of Congress are Specializing Less Often. Volden and Wiseman Say That Makes Them Less Effective. Democracy Political Science Batten’s Craig Volden and Vanderbilt’s Alan Wiseman, co-directors of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, find that members of Congress are becoming less specialized and in turn, less effective. How do we encourage more expertise and reverse the trend? Read in The Washington Post Aug 05, 2020 Scoring Effectiveness in Congress Political Science What makes someone an effective lawmaker? Surprisingly, until Batten’s Craig Volden and Vanderbilt’s Alan Wiseman began discussing that question a little over a decade ago, we didn’t have a clear answer. Learn more Apr 17, 2020 Coronavirus policies spread quickly across the U.S. Are cities and states learning — or just copying? Political Science As the novel coronavirus has spread across U.S. cities and states, so have public policies aimed at stopping the pandemic. Batten's Craig Volden and co-author Charles R. Shipan examine how some states have learned from others’ policy successes, while others simply copy their neighbors or even compete against them, and why that matters. Read in The Washington Post Mar 06, 2020 Productive Politicians Fare Better in Primaries Political Science Leadership Now that Super Tuesday is behind us, voters can look forward to another primary in the spring – this time for Congressional candidates. As a professor of public policy and politics at the Batten School and co-director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, Craig Volden has studied what factors make for a successful candidate and drawn some conclusions about this state’s congressional delegation. Listen on WVTF
Jun 10, 2024 How Effective are America’s State Legislators? Domestic Policy & Politics Political Science The Center for Effective Lawmaking has compiled a massive database to measure the effectiveness of nearly every state legislator in the U.S. Based on the center's trusted methodology developed a decade ago to rank the effectiveness of members of Congress, the project is the first to collect this kind of data at the state level in a comprehensive fashion. Learn more
Jul 08, 2022 Volden Wins Honor for Paper That Highlights How Women Policymakers Thrive Political Science Batten's Craig Volden and co-author Rachel Augustine Potter were recognized for their research exploring the effectiveness of female agency leaders. They discuss the "glass walls" effect and the potential implications of their findings. Learn more
May 24, 2022 To Run or Not to Run? Not Enough Women Consider Political Office in the First Place. Domestic Policy & Politics Political Science Racial Justice and Equity A new report by Batten School Professor Jennifer Lawless highlights the gender gap in political ambition. The research declares that “politics remains a game for men.” Learn more
Jun 17, 2021 Faculty Spotlight: Improving the Way We Make Laws, with Science Political Science Batten Professor Craig Volden no longer designs spacecraft—instead, he’s engineering a metric to combat political gridlock. Learn more
Jun 07, 2021 Volden: Experienced Staff Promote Effective Lawmaking Political Science According to research from Batten's Center for Effective Lawmaking, retaining experienced legislative staff is crucial to Congress doing its job better. In an op-ed for The Hill, center co-directors Craig Volden and Alan E. Wiseman say that when it comes to congressional staff, we get what we pay for. Read in The Hill
Mar 25, 2021 Volden: Committee Chairs Continue Their Lawmaking Decline Political Science Leadership Committee chairs have long been considered power brokers for lawmaking, but according to research from the Center for Effective Lawmaking, their lawmaking effectiveness is diminishing. In an op-ed for The Hill, Batten's Craig Volden and Vanderbilt University's Alan E. Wiseman write about the trend. Read in The Hill
Mar 17, 2021 The “Do-Something” Members of the 116th Congress: Legislative Effectiveness Study from the Batten School and Vanderbilt University Identifies Member Success in Advancing Bills Political Science Leadership Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Gary Peters, D-Mich., along with Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and retired Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., were the most effective Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the recently completed 116th Congress (2019–20), according to new research from Batten's Center for Effective Lawmaking. Learn more
Dec 07, 2020 Focus on Cabinet Nominees' Effectiveness and Expertise, Not Just Ideology Political Science Leadership As President-elect Joe Biden’s cabinet nominees have been named, much of the discussion has been about their ideological leanings. In an article for The Hill, Batten's Craig Volden and Vanderbilt University's Alan E. Wiseman, co-directors of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, outline why these ideological discussions are too narrow a focus. Read In The Hill
Sep 18, 2020 Members of Congress are Specializing Less Often. Volden and Wiseman Say That Makes Them Less Effective. Democracy Political Science Batten’s Craig Volden and Vanderbilt’s Alan Wiseman, co-directors of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, find that members of Congress are becoming less specialized and in turn, less effective. How do we encourage more expertise and reverse the trend? Read in The Washington Post
Aug 05, 2020 Scoring Effectiveness in Congress Political Science What makes someone an effective lawmaker? Surprisingly, until Batten’s Craig Volden and Vanderbilt’s Alan Wiseman began discussing that question a little over a decade ago, we didn’t have a clear answer. Learn more
Apr 17, 2020 Coronavirus policies spread quickly across the U.S. Are cities and states learning — or just copying? Political Science As the novel coronavirus has spread across U.S. cities and states, so have public policies aimed at stopping the pandemic. Batten's Craig Volden and co-author Charles R. Shipan examine how some states have learned from others’ policy successes, while others simply copy their neighbors or even compete against them, and why that matters. Read in The Washington Post
Mar 06, 2020 Productive Politicians Fare Better in Primaries Political Science Leadership Now that Super Tuesday is behind us, voters can look forward to another primary in the spring – this time for Congressional candidates. As a professor of public policy and politics at the Batten School and co-director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, Craig Volden has studied what factors make for a successful candidate and drawn some conclusions about this state’s congressional delegation. Listen on WVTF