About News News Subscribe Leadership Education Domestic Policy & Politics Racial Justice and Equity Democracy International and Global Affairs Health Policy Economics Advocacy Ethics National Security Social Entrepreneurship Social Equity Crime and Justice Environmental Policy Humanitarian Policy International Development Global Politics & International Relations Research and Commentary Immigration Migration Labor Housing Virginia Politics & Policy (-) Political Science (-) Social Psychology Facet Area of Focus - News Craig Volden John Holbein Gabrielle Adams Gerald Warburg Raymond C. Scheppach Benjamin Converse Jennifer Lawless Timothy L. Davis Andrew S. Pennock Jay Shimshack Adam Roux Brendan J. Boler Brian N. Williams David Leblang Frederick P. Hitz Jieun Pai Margaret Foster Riley Peter Johannessen Steve Hiss Todd S. Sechser Xiao Wang Facet People - News Center for Effective Lawmaking UVA Center for Politics Miller Center School Engineering School of Education and Human Development School of Law UVA Humanitarian Collaborative Facet UVA Partner - News Research and Commentary Alum in Action Accolades Faculty In Action Racial Justice and Equity Student Stories Facet News Type - News 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 May 11, 2021 Teaching Pandemic Response Through Gamesmanship Social Psychology Domestic Policy & Politics In a case of simulation imitating life, Batten's Center for Leadership Simulation and Gaming provides an opportunity for students to wrestle with a simulated pandemic online – during a worldwide pandemic. Read in UVA Today Apr 30, 2021 Why States Didn’t Go Broke From the Pandemic Economics Political Science The headlines were inescapable: States faced a financial disaster of epic proportions because of COVID-19. But, the predictions were wrong. In an article for The Conversation, Batten's Raymond Scheppach explains why the disaster never happened. Read in The Conversation Apr 16, 2021 We instinctively add on new features and fixes. Why don’t we subtract instead? Social Psychology Across a series of studies published this month in the journal Nature, Batten’s Gabrielle Adams, Benjamin Converse and co-authors demonstrated that people tend to overlook the option to subtract parts when asked to change or improve something. In an op-ed for The Washington Post, they explore why ‘less is more’ is a hard insight to act on. Read in The Washington Post Apr 14, 2021 Why People Forget that Less is Often More Social Psychology Why, when solving problems, do people prefer adding things to getting rid of them? In an article for The Economist, Batten’s Gabrielle Adams and Benjamin Converse explain their research on subtractive improvements. Read in The Economist Apr 07, 2021 Why Our Brains Miss Opportunities to Improve through Subtraction Social Psychology Leadership In a new paper featured on the cover of Nature, Batten’s Gabrielle Adams, Benjamin Converse and co-authors explain why people systematically overlook subtractive improvements. Learn more 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 March 10, 2021 Warburg Speaks on Congress and Foreign Policy as 'Top of Mind' Podcast Guest Democracy Political Science America cannot go to war unless Congress authorizes it, but Congress has rarely taken a vote to start and end a war. On Julie Rose's "Top of Mind," Batten professor Gerry Warburg explores why Congress leaves it to presidents to expand America's global conflicts. Learn more Mar 01, 2021 Why Using Reconciliation to Pass Biden’s COVID-19 Stimulus Bill Violates the Original Purpose of the Process Political Science Economics In 1974, Congress invented the reconciliation process to reduce deficits. More recently, reconciliation has been used in ways that increase the deficit. Batten’s Ray Scheppach spoke with The Conversation to explain the process. Read in The Conversation Feb 23, 2021 Here's Who Biden Might Pick for OMB Director as Neera Tanden's Confirmation Looks Unlikely Political Science The Biden administration is heading back to square one as the chances for a Neera Tanden confirmation, the president's initial pick for director of the Office of Management and Budget, seems increasingly unlikely to gain enough Senate votes. Batten’s David Leblang spoke to Newsweek about potential candidates under consideration to take Tanden's place. READ IN NEWSWEEK Pagination Previous page ‹ Previous Page 1 Current page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Next page Next › Stay Up To Date with the Latest Batten News and Events Subscribe
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
May 11, 2021 Teaching Pandemic Response Through Gamesmanship Social Psychology Domestic Policy & Politics In a case of simulation imitating life, Batten's Center for Leadership Simulation and Gaming provides an opportunity for students to wrestle with a simulated pandemic online – during a worldwide pandemic. Read in UVA Today
Apr 30, 2021 Why States Didn’t Go Broke From the Pandemic Economics Political Science The headlines were inescapable: States faced a financial disaster of epic proportions because of COVID-19. But, the predictions were wrong. In an article for The Conversation, Batten's Raymond Scheppach explains why the disaster never happened. Read in The Conversation
Apr 16, 2021 We instinctively add on new features and fixes. Why don’t we subtract instead? Social Psychology Across a series of studies published this month in the journal Nature, Batten’s Gabrielle Adams, Benjamin Converse and co-authors demonstrated that people tend to overlook the option to subtract parts when asked to change or improve something. In an op-ed for The Washington Post, they explore why ‘less is more’ is a hard insight to act on. Read in The Washington Post
Apr 14, 2021 Why People Forget that Less is Often More Social Psychology Why, when solving problems, do people prefer adding things to getting rid of them? In an article for The Economist, Batten’s Gabrielle Adams and Benjamin Converse explain their research on subtractive improvements. Read in The Economist
Apr 07, 2021 Why Our Brains Miss Opportunities to Improve through Subtraction Social Psychology Leadership In a new paper featured on the cover of Nature, Batten’s Gabrielle Adams, Benjamin Converse and co-authors explain why people systematically overlook subtractive improvements. Learn more
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
March 10, 2021 Warburg Speaks on Congress and Foreign Policy as 'Top of Mind' Podcast Guest Democracy Political Science America cannot go to war unless Congress authorizes it, but Congress has rarely taken a vote to start and end a war. On Julie Rose's "Top of Mind," Batten professor Gerry Warburg explores why Congress leaves it to presidents to expand America's global conflicts. Learn more
Mar 01, 2021 Why Using Reconciliation to Pass Biden’s COVID-19 Stimulus Bill Violates the Original Purpose of the Process Political Science Economics In 1974, Congress invented the reconciliation process to reduce deficits. More recently, reconciliation has been used in ways that increase the deficit. Batten’s Ray Scheppach spoke with The Conversation to explain the process. Read in The Conversation
Feb 23, 2021 Here's Who Biden Might Pick for OMB Director as Neera Tanden's Confirmation Looks Unlikely Political Science The Biden administration is heading back to square one as the chances for a Neera Tanden confirmation, the president's initial pick for director of the Office of Management and Budget, seems increasingly unlikely to gain enough Senate votes. Batten’s David Leblang spoke to Newsweek about potential candidates under consideration to take Tanden's place. READ IN NEWSWEEK