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Dobson Larry Terry Margaret Foster Riley Molly Lipscomb Abigail Scholer Adam Leive Allison Atteberry Andrew Simon Brad Carson Derek Wu Frederick P. Hitz Galen Fountain Gerald Higginbotham Isaac Mbiti Michele Claibourn Sally Hudson Tim Layton Xiao Wang Adam Roux Amanda Crombie Andy Ortiz Ashley Jardina Brendan J. Boler Brooke Ray Charles J. Rush Charles J. Rush Diane Biesecker George Foresman Jieun Pai Justin H. Kirkland Kimberly Jenkins Robinson Melissa Thomas-Hunt Pam Cipriano Paul Becker Tim Layton (-) Craig Volden (-) Raymond C. Scheppach 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 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 Nov 06, 2020 Batten Faculty Provide Commentary on Election Results Democracy Political Science In commentary compiled by the Miller Center, Batten Professors Jennifer Lawless, Margaret Foster Riley, Todd Sechser, and Craig Volden weigh in on the 2020 election, offering updates on the latest developments. Full Commentary from UVA's Miller Center 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 Jul 08, 2020 Scheppach on the Opportunity States Have to Attack Income Inequality Political Science As they rebuild their education, health-care and tax systems after the devastation of COVID-19, they can take important steps that can significantly narrow income and wealth disparities. Read in Governing Jun 16, 2020 Scheppach: COVID-19 Will Turn the State Pension Problem Into a Fiscal Crisis Health Policy You may be wondering why, over the last few months, the state pension problem – normally not a subject of widespread discussion – has been in the news. The problem – and it’s a big one – is that many of the public employee pension plans run by states don’t have enough money in them to make upcoming pension payments to retired state workers. Read in The Conversation 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 Apr 13, 2020 Plummeting Tax Revenues Will Put Governors in Tough Budget Situations Economics According to Batten's Ray Scheppach, the magnitude of the coronavirus fiscal crisis that governors and their states will have to face is just starting to emerge. And that crisis will affect states’ abilities to do everything from paying teachers to paving roads to providing social services. Read in The Conversation Apr 03, 2020 Governors Take Charge of Response to the Coronavirus Leadership Political Science Batten’s Ray Scheppach, who served as the executive director of the National Governors Association from 1983 to 2011, on why the nation’s governors are prepared to take quick and aggressive action during a crisis and how they have exercised leadership in their states to limit the spread of COVID-19. Read in The Conversation 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 Oct 07, 2019 Q&A: How Leaders Can Navigate Recession, From One Who’s Been There Economics As the U.S. economy continues its longest-ever period of expansion, economists are beginning to call attention to some indicators that point to a potential downturn. One of those economists is Batten Professor Ray Scheppach. Read in UVA Today Sep 12, 2019 Congress is back in town. Here’s why lawmakers will struggle to get much done. Leadership Research and Commentary Congress is back from its August recess, and lawmakers face public demands for action on issues as varied as health care, infrastructure, gun safety and trade. Legislators face at least one set of “must pass” agenda items: 12 spending bills that need to be enacted into law by Oct. 1 or the federal government will shut down. Read in The Washington Post Pagination Previous page ‹ Previous Page 1 Page 2 Current page 3 Page 4 Next page Next › Stay Up To Date with the Latest Batten News and Events Subscribe
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
Nov 06, 2020 Batten Faculty Provide Commentary on Election Results Democracy Political Science In commentary compiled by the Miller Center, Batten Professors Jennifer Lawless, Margaret Foster Riley, Todd Sechser, and Craig Volden weigh in on the 2020 election, offering updates on the latest developments. Full Commentary from UVA's Miller Center
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
Jul 08, 2020 Scheppach on the Opportunity States Have to Attack Income Inequality Political Science As they rebuild their education, health-care and tax systems after the devastation of COVID-19, they can take important steps that can significantly narrow income and wealth disparities. Read in Governing
Jun 16, 2020 Scheppach: COVID-19 Will Turn the State Pension Problem Into a Fiscal Crisis Health Policy You may be wondering why, over the last few months, the state pension problem – normally not a subject of widespread discussion – has been in the news. The problem – and it’s a big one – is that many of the public employee pension plans run by states don’t have enough money in them to make upcoming pension payments to retired state workers. Read in The Conversation
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
Apr 13, 2020 Plummeting Tax Revenues Will Put Governors in Tough Budget Situations Economics According to Batten's Ray Scheppach, the magnitude of the coronavirus fiscal crisis that governors and their states will have to face is just starting to emerge. And that crisis will affect states’ abilities to do everything from paying teachers to paving roads to providing social services. Read in The Conversation
Apr 03, 2020 Governors Take Charge of Response to the Coronavirus Leadership Political Science Batten’s Ray Scheppach, who served as the executive director of the National Governors Association from 1983 to 2011, on why the nation’s governors are prepared to take quick and aggressive action during a crisis and how they have exercised leadership in their states to limit the spread of COVID-19. Read in The Conversation
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
Oct 07, 2019 Q&A: How Leaders Can Navigate Recession, From One Who’s Been There Economics As the U.S. economy continues its longest-ever period of expansion, economists are beginning to call attention to some indicators that point to a potential downturn. One of those economists is Batten Professor Ray Scheppach. Read in UVA Today
Sep 12, 2019 Congress is back in town. Here’s why lawmakers will struggle to get much done. Leadership Research and Commentary Congress is back from its August recess, and lawmakers face public demands for action on issues as varied as health care, infrastructure, gun safety and trade. Legislators face at least one set of “must pass” agenda items: 12 spending bills that need to be enacted into law by Oct. 1 or the federal government will shut down. Read in The Washington Post