About News News Subscribe Political Science Domestic Policy & Politics Leadership Democracy Economics Health Policy Education Research and Commentary Ethics Racial Justice and Equity Facet Area of Focus - News Ian H. Solomon Brian N. Williams Christine Mahoney Benjamin Castleman Kirsten Gelsdorf Gerald Warburg Gabrielle Adams Philip Potter Daphna Bassok Jay Shimshack John Holbein Lucy Bassett Andrew S. Pennock David Leblang Allan Stam Raymond C. Scheppach Sarah Turner Sophie Trawalter Timothy L. Davis Bala Mulloth Benjamin Converse Sebastian Tello Trillo Eileen Chou Jeanine Braithwaite Jennifer Lawless Jill Rockwell Todd S. Sechser Alexander Bick James H. Wyckoff Paul S. Martin Peter Johannessen Steve Hiss Daniel W. Player Gerard Robinson Laura Toscano Michael D. Williams Noah Myung William Shobe Brooke Lehmann Harry Harding James R. Detert Jazmin Brown-Iannuzzi Jeff Chidester Kyle S. H. 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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 Jan 12, 2021 How Women Leaders Can Enhance Rulemaking In The Biden Administration Leadership Ethics How can the Biden-Harris team increase its odds for regulatory success? According to research from Batten’s Craig Volden and co-author Rachel Augustine Potter, the new administration can accomplish policy change by hiring women leaders and establishing supportive work environments. Read In Brookings 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 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 09, 2020 How Might the COVID-19 Recession Affect Your Health? An Economist Explains. Economics Health Policy Recessions may be good for overall physical health, but this one could be different. Batten professor Chris Ruhm presented an online talk Wednesday offering an economist’s view of the overall health effects of the COVID-19 recession. His talk was the school’s third installment of its expert chat series about COVID-19. Learn more 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 Nov 21, 2019 New Research: Non-Opioid Drug Death Rates Are Also on the Rise Economics The number of Americans dying from drug overdoses has risen rapidly in the last decade, with opioids viewed as the primary culprit. However, recent research suggests that opioids are not the only drug involved. According to Batten professor of economics, Christopher J. Ruhm, half of the overdose deaths have involved polydrug use and deaths involving nonopioid drugs are rising almost as fast as those involving opioids. 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 Jul 18, 2019 Professor Spotlight: Craig Volden Education Leadership “My mother was a professor of nursing at the University of North Dakota, and she served as associate dean of the School of Nursing for a number of years,” said Volden. “So, I grew up with an example of what it meant to be a valued professor and an academic leader. Although I thought of pursuing other paths along the way, this one felt very natural to me as I finished college and started into graduate school.” Learn more 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
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
Jan 12, 2021 How Women Leaders Can Enhance Rulemaking In The Biden Administration Leadership Ethics How can the Biden-Harris team increase its odds for regulatory success? According to research from Batten’s Craig Volden and co-author Rachel Augustine Potter, the new administration can accomplish policy change by hiring women leaders and establishing supportive work environments. Read In Brookings
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
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 09, 2020 How Might the COVID-19 Recession Affect Your Health? An Economist Explains. Economics Health Policy Recessions may be good for overall physical health, but this one could be different. Batten professor Chris Ruhm presented an online talk Wednesday offering an economist’s view of the overall health effects of the COVID-19 recession. His talk was the school’s third installment of its expert chat series about COVID-19. Learn more
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
Nov 21, 2019 New Research: Non-Opioid Drug Death Rates Are Also on the Rise Economics The number of Americans dying from drug overdoses has risen rapidly in the last decade, with opioids viewed as the primary culprit. However, recent research suggests that opioids are not the only drug involved. According to Batten professor of economics, Christopher J. Ruhm, half of the overdose deaths have involved polydrug use and deaths involving nonopioid drugs are rising almost as fast as those involving opioids. 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
Jul 18, 2019 Professor Spotlight: Craig Volden Education Leadership “My mother was a professor of nursing at the University of North Dakota, and she served as associate dean of the School of Nursing for a number of years,” said Volden. “So, I grew up with an example of what it meant to be a valued professor and an academic leader. Although I thought of pursuing other paths along the way, this one felt very natural to me as I finished college and started into graduate school.” Learn more