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Kirkland Kimberly Jenkins Robinson Melissa Thomas-Hunt Pam Cipriano Paul Becker Tim Layton (-) Craig Volden (-) Alexander Bick Facet People - News Center for Effective Lawmaking Miller Center Facet UVA Partner - News Research and Commentary Faculty In Action Accolades Featured Research Facet News Type - News Apr 21, 2025 Bick Moderates Panel on Presidential Uses of Economic Power UVA Batten associate professor Alex Bick — an expert on national security policy and international affairs — served as a moderator for a panel discussion at the Miller Center’s 2025 William and Carol Stevenson Conference titled “The Future of American Financial and Economic Statecraft.” The conference examined how the Trump administration, as well as future presidencies, might use the levers of economic power. Learn more Dec 04, 2024 Class Simulation Puts Students at the Center of a Tense Global Drama A natural disaster in Taiwan quickly escalates into an international crisis, bringing the world to the brink of war. This was the scenario given by Associate Professor Alexander Bick to his class, “Strategic Decision-Making" — one example of the experiential learning opportunities offered to our students to prepare them to tackle the world’s most pressing problems. Learn more Teaching Is About Engaging Students Batten Associate Professor Alex Bick took part in UVA's Center for Teaching Excellence Course Design Institute. Bick and fellow participant Alicia Frantz share some of their highlights from this program on learning-focused course design. Learn more Aug 15, 2024 Why the War in Ukraine Matters National Security Global Politics & International Relations Professor Alex Bick had a bird's-eye view of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2021 as a White House adviser at the time. He joined our faculty last year and this fall, he's teaching a new course that traces the evolution of the war to examine core problems in national security, foreign policy, and strategic decision making. Learn more 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 Jun 06, 2024 Batten Hosts Back-to-Back Political Science Conferences Domestic Policy & Politics The UVA Batten School is excited to co-host the national State Politics and Policy Conference this weekend, bringing together some 140 political science researchers from across the country to share their recent findings on a wide range of topics. Immediately following, Batten hosts the annual conference of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, a joint project with Vanderbilt University. Learn more Mar 29, 2024 History as a Leadership Hack The lessons of history have been ever-present throughout Alex Bick's 20-year career in international affairs and national security, including roles at The Carter Center and in the Obama and Biden administrations. He joined the Batten faculty this semester as associate professor of practice in public policy. Learn more Feb 11, 2024 Effective Lawmaking in Virginia: Past, Present and Future This week’s Batten Hour featured Bill Howell, former Speaker of the House of Delegates, and David Toscano, former House Minority Leader, in a discussion about how the legislature is addressing past, present and future policy challenges. Their discussion was moderated by Craig Volden, professor of public policy and politics and co-director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking. Learn more Jul 25, 2023 Improving Expertise of Congressional Staff Domestic Policy & Politics In an op-ed published in The Messenger, Craig Volden and Alan E. Wiseman of the Center for Effective Lawmaking write that without proper career training for congressional staffers, expertise gaps on Capitol Hill will continue to be problematic. Learn more May 31, 2023 Bipartisanship the “secret sauce” for effective lawmaking, despite rising polarization in Congress Domestic Policy & Politics Democracy 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. Learn more Mar 20, 2023 Highlights from the New 117th Congress Legislative Effectiveness Scores 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. Learn More Jan 21, 2023 George Santos' college education is a myth. Is he the only one lying? We checked. How often are the educational backgrounds of Congressional legislators and candidates vetted, and how much do degrees matter? Craig Volden, Batten School professor and co-director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, talked with USA Today about Congress members’ educational backgrounds and how a degree correlates to effectiveness as a legislator. Learn more Pagination Current page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Next page Next › Stay Up To Date with the Latest Batten News and Events Subscribe
Apr 21, 2025 Bick Moderates Panel on Presidential Uses of Economic Power UVA Batten associate professor Alex Bick — an expert on national security policy and international affairs — served as a moderator for a panel discussion at the Miller Center’s 2025 William and Carol Stevenson Conference titled “The Future of American Financial and Economic Statecraft.” The conference examined how the Trump administration, as well as future presidencies, might use the levers of economic power. Learn more
Dec 04, 2024 Class Simulation Puts Students at the Center of a Tense Global Drama A natural disaster in Taiwan quickly escalates into an international crisis, bringing the world to the brink of war. This was the scenario given by Associate Professor Alexander Bick to his class, “Strategic Decision-Making" — one example of the experiential learning opportunities offered to our students to prepare them to tackle the world’s most pressing problems. Learn more
Teaching Is About Engaging Students Batten Associate Professor Alex Bick took part in UVA's Center for Teaching Excellence Course Design Institute. Bick and fellow participant Alicia Frantz share some of their highlights from this program on learning-focused course design. Learn more
Aug 15, 2024 Why the War in Ukraine Matters National Security Global Politics & International Relations Professor Alex Bick had a bird's-eye view of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2021 as a White House adviser at the time. He joined our faculty last year and this fall, he's teaching a new course that traces the evolution of the war to examine core problems in national security, foreign policy, and strategic decision making. Learn more
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
Jun 06, 2024 Batten Hosts Back-to-Back Political Science Conferences Domestic Policy & Politics The UVA Batten School is excited to co-host the national State Politics and Policy Conference this weekend, bringing together some 140 political science researchers from across the country to share their recent findings on a wide range of topics. Immediately following, Batten hosts the annual conference of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, a joint project with Vanderbilt University. Learn more
Mar 29, 2024 History as a Leadership Hack The lessons of history have been ever-present throughout Alex Bick's 20-year career in international affairs and national security, including roles at The Carter Center and in the Obama and Biden administrations. He joined the Batten faculty this semester as associate professor of practice in public policy. Learn more
Feb 11, 2024 Effective Lawmaking in Virginia: Past, Present and Future This week’s Batten Hour featured Bill Howell, former Speaker of the House of Delegates, and David Toscano, former House Minority Leader, in a discussion about how the legislature is addressing past, present and future policy challenges. Their discussion was moderated by Craig Volden, professor of public policy and politics and co-director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking. Learn more
Jul 25, 2023 Improving Expertise of Congressional Staff Domestic Policy & Politics In an op-ed published in The Messenger, Craig Volden and Alan E. Wiseman of the Center for Effective Lawmaking write that without proper career training for congressional staffers, expertise gaps on Capitol Hill will continue to be problematic. Learn more
May 31, 2023 Bipartisanship the “secret sauce” for effective lawmaking, despite rising polarization in Congress Domestic Policy & Politics Democracy 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. Learn more
Mar 20, 2023 Highlights from the New 117th Congress Legislative Effectiveness Scores 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. Learn More
Jan 21, 2023 George Santos' college education is a myth. Is he the only one lying? We checked. How often are the educational backgrounds of Congressional legislators and candidates vetted, and how much do degrees matter? Craig Volden, Batten School professor and co-director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, talked with USA Today about Congress members’ educational backgrounds and how a degree correlates to effectiveness as a legislator. Learn more