About News Improving Expertise of Congressional Staff Jul 25, 2023 Improving Expertise of Congressional Staff Staff members are essential to a well-functioning Congress, as is the expertise they acquire and use to do their jobs. Researchers with the Center for Effective Lawmaking – a joint project of the Batten School and Vanderbilt University – have published a working paper examining the causes and effects of how staffers expand their skills and knowledge. They found that staff whose jobs are less secure — due to their bosses being electorally vulnerable — are less likely to apply for and attend training sessions. Much of the training provided for staffers is specific to their current jobs but not especially helpful for advancing their careers outside of Congress. If training programs were designed to increase their human capital more generally, the researchers found, staffers with less secure jobs would participate at higher — not lower — levels. Determining which training programs are building specific or general human capital is crucial. It’s not simply a matter of “if you build it, they will come.” Identifying whether programs are building general or specific human capital will help align these programs with the incentives of the staff who may — or may not — be interested in participating. Absent these steps, we should expect that the expertise gaps that exist on Capitol Hill — often due to high staff turnover in congressional offices — will continue to be problematic. Read the op-ed in The Messenger Craig Volden Craig Volden is a professor of public policy and politics at the University of Virginia, with appointments in the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the Department of Politics. He studies the politics of public policy, with a focus on what policy choices arise within legislative institutions and within American federalism. He is founder and co-director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking. Read full bio Alan E. Wiseman Alan Wiseman is a Co-Director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking. He is the Chair of the Political Science Department at Vanderbilt University, where he is the Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Political Economy and a Professor of Political Science and Law (by courtesy). He has research and teaching interests in American political institutions and positive political economy, focusing on legislative politics, regulation and bureaucratic policy making, and business-government relations. Read bio Related Content Craig Volden Legislative Effectiveness, Progressive Ambition, and Electoral Success Research The Primary Path for Turning Legislative Effectiveness into Electoral Success Research Effective lawmakers are the workhorses of the US Congress, yet we know little about the electoral payoffs of their efforts. Are effective lawmakers better at warding off challengers in the next election? Do they win at a greater rate? Bipartisanship the “secret sauce” for effective lawmaking, despite rising polarization in Congress News Despite perceptions that Congress is dominated by partisan interests, a new study from the Center for Effective Lawmaking -- co-directed by Batten professor Craig Volden -- finds that legislators who draw in cosponsors from both sides of the aisle are more effective. Highlights from the New 117th Congress Legislative Effectiveness Scores News Reps. Gerald Connolly, D-VA, and Don Bacon, R-NE, and Sens. Gary Peters, D-MI, and John Cornyn, R-TX, top their respective lists of the most effective Democratic and Republican lawmakers in the recently completed 117th Congress (2021–23), according to the latest round of legislative effectiveness scores compiled by the Center for Effective Lawmaking released March 20. Stay Up To Date with the Latest Batten News and Events Subscribe
Craig Volden Craig Volden is a professor of public policy and politics at the University of Virginia, with appointments in the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the Department of Politics. He studies the politics of public policy, with a focus on what policy choices arise within legislative institutions and within American federalism. He is founder and co-director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking. Read full bio
The Primary Path for Turning Legislative Effectiveness into Electoral Success Research Effective lawmakers are the workhorses of the US Congress, yet we know little about the electoral payoffs of their efforts. Are effective lawmakers better at warding off challengers in the next election? Do they win at a greater rate?
Bipartisanship the “secret sauce” for effective lawmaking, despite rising polarization in Congress News Despite perceptions that Congress is dominated by partisan interests, a new study from the Center for Effective Lawmaking -- co-directed by Batten professor Craig Volden -- finds that legislators who draw in cosponsors from both sides of the aisle are more effective.
Highlights from the New 117th Congress Legislative Effectiveness Scores News Reps. Gerald Connolly, D-VA, and Don Bacon, R-NE, and Sens. Gary Peters, D-MI, and John Cornyn, R-TX, top their respective lists of the most effective Democratic and Republican lawmakers in the recently completed 117th Congress (2021–23), according to the latest round of legislative effectiveness scores compiled by the Center for Effective Lawmaking released March 20.