The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is celebrating an extremely successful year with the release of its annual report. Founded in 2017 as a joint venture between the University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and Vanderbilt University, the center’s trusted methodology and analyses have been cited in hundreds of news articles across the U.S., and widely used by lawmakers and their staffs.

The CEL’s top highlight from 2024 is the expansion of its mission to state-level lawmaking with the compilation of a massive database to measure the effectiveness of nearly every state legislator in the U.S. The State Legislative Effectiveness Scores project is the first to collect this kind of data at the state level in a comprehensive fashion. An interactive website hosting this database is anticipated for release next year.

The project was made possible thanks to generous funding from The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, which committed a three-year $1.5 million grant to the CEL for this work.

“We’re drawn to the combination of research and engagement, with the opportunity to use insights from this data to help lawmakers become more effective and inform the efforts of good governance partners,” said Craig Volden, a professor of public policy and politics at the UVA Batten and a co-founder and co-director of CEL. “This dataset allows extensive new research opportunities on legislative politics, public policy and representative democracy.”

Additional Highlights from 2024

• The CEL updated its congressional New Member Guide which will be shared with every newly elected legislator and at regularly held briefings and sessions with congressional staff.
• Work on the new Legislative Effectiveness Scoring for the 118th Congress is in progress and new scores should be released in late February or early March of 2025.
• The CEL awarded seven research grants for a total of $11,218 to scholars across the country, covering research on a variety of important topics including state lawmaking, electoral connections, coalition building, collaboration and effective lawmaking around the world.
• The CEL hosted back-to-back events at UVA in late June, including the 2024 State Politics and Policy Conference and CEL’s 6th Annual Research Conference.
• Additional events the CEL partnered on included co-hosting “Partisanship and the Public Evaluation of Threats and Violence against Elected Officials,” the UVA Karsh Institute of Democracy’s “Democracy 360” three-day summit, a special event at UVA Batten on “Effective Lawmaking in Virginia – Past, Present, and Future,” and various class visits and other public events featuring former and current state legislators and members of Congress.  
• The Center released 11 research studies, and presented the 2024 Award for Best Publication on Effective Lawmaking to Pamela Ban (University of California at San Diego), Ju Yeon “Julia” Park (Ohio State University), and Hye Young You (Princeton University) for their article in the American Political Science Review, “How are Politicians Informed? Witnesses and Information Provision in Congress.”
• The CEL added several interviews to its web series, “Conversations with Effective Lawmakers.”
• The center hosted two post-doctoral scholars and three graduate affiliates, as well as employed 11 research assistants and two post-doctoral researchers. It also engaged four interns during the year from UVA Batten and Vanderbilt University. Five new faculty affiliates were added this year, bringing the total to 34 at 26 colleges and universities around the country.

The Center for Effective Lawmaking is grateful for all who contributed to these accomplishments, including ongoing support from the U.S. Democracy Program of the Hewlett Foundation, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, With Honor, UVA Batten and Vanderbilt University. Through this support, the CEL is able to continue its vital mission to enhance the effectiveness of individual lawmakers and U.S. legislative institutions. The CEL looks forward to continuing this work and expanding its impact.

To be a part of this important work, email: thelawmakers [@] virginia.edu.