About News News Subscribe Political Science Domestic Policy & Politics Democracy Leadership Education Ethics Health Policy International and Global Affairs Racial Justice and Equity Social Psychology Facet Area of Focus - News Craig Volden Gerald Warburg Noah Myung Xiao Wang Adam Roux Andy Ortiz David Leblang Eileen Chou Gabrielle Adams Jennifer Lawless Facet People - News UVA Humanitarian Collaborative National Security Policy Center EdPolicyWorks: Center for Education Policy and Workforce Competitiveness UVA Center for Politics Karsh Institute of Democracy Miller Center Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service School of Education and Human Development School of Nursing Social Innovation @ UVA Center for Social Innovation Darden School of Business Department of Economics School Engineering College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences McIntire School of Commerce School of Medicine (-) Center for Effective Lawmaking (-) School of Law Facet UVA Partner - News Research and Commentary Faculty In Action Accolades Alum in Action Featured Research Student Stories Facet News Type - News Mar 26, 2025 Legislative Effectiveness Scores for 118th Congress Highlight The Keys to Successful Lawmaking In its 5th biennial report on the effectiveness of U.S. senators and representatives, the Center for Effective Lawmaking found that despite deep political and procedural disruptions, the 118th Congress passed hundreds of laws. It also noted that the exit of some of the highest-scoring members may strain the lawmaking capacity of Congress in the years ahead. Learn more Nov 06, 2024 Center for Effective Lawmaking: 2024 Annual Report The Center for Effective Lawmaking is marking an extremely successful year with the release of its annual report. Founded in 2017 as a joint venture between UVA Batten and Vanderbilt University, the center’s trusted methodology and analyses have been cited in hundreds of news articles across the U.S., and widely used by lawmakers and their staffs. Learn more Oct 30, 2024 Local Official Becomes Champion of Democracy: “I Did My Job” As an elected official in Maricopa County, Arizona, in 2020, Bill Gates saw first-hand the troubling impacts of election conspiracies, experiencing intense pressure to alter the county's elections process, even facing threats of violence. Since then, he's been an outspoken advocate for election workers and democracy; he spoke at Garrett Hall for this week's Batten Hour. 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 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 Dec 22, 2023 Wang Wins AALS Award for Paper on Religious Freedom Xiao Wang (MPP '09), professor at UVA's School of Law and an affiliated Batten faculty member, has won the 2024 Harold Berman Award for Excellence in Scholarship from the Association of American Law Schools for his paper on a recent trend in religious freedom litigation. Learn more Sep 27, 2023 Briefing Congress's "Problem Solvers" The co-directors of the Center for Effective Lawmaking -- Craig Volden of the Batten School and Tom Wiseman of Vanderbilt University -- held a briefing in DC recently with staff members of the congressional Problem Solvers Caucus to share their insights into what it takes to become an effective lawmaker. Read the blog Sep 19, 2023 Alum in Action: Citizens Can Drive Democracy, Even After a SCOTUS Ruling Democracy Political Science Domestic Policy & Politics Xiao Wang (MPP '09) an assistant professor at the Law School and Batten School and an expert on the U.S. Constitution, spoke at this week's "Batten Hour" about the implications of citizen-driven initiatives in response to unpopular rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court. 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 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
Mar 26, 2025 Legislative Effectiveness Scores for 118th Congress Highlight The Keys to Successful Lawmaking In its 5th biennial report on the effectiveness of U.S. senators and representatives, the Center for Effective Lawmaking found that despite deep political and procedural disruptions, the 118th Congress passed hundreds of laws. It also noted that the exit of some of the highest-scoring members may strain the lawmaking capacity of Congress in the years ahead. Learn more
Nov 06, 2024 Center for Effective Lawmaking: 2024 Annual Report The Center for Effective Lawmaking is marking an extremely successful year with the release of its annual report. Founded in 2017 as a joint venture between UVA Batten and Vanderbilt University, the center’s trusted methodology and analyses have been cited in hundreds of news articles across the U.S., and widely used by lawmakers and their staffs. Learn more
Oct 30, 2024 Local Official Becomes Champion of Democracy: “I Did My Job” As an elected official in Maricopa County, Arizona, in 2020, Bill Gates saw first-hand the troubling impacts of election conspiracies, experiencing intense pressure to alter the county's elections process, even facing threats of violence. Since then, he's been an outspoken advocate for election workers and democracy; he spoke at Garrett Hall for this week's Batten Hour. 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
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
Dec 22, 2023 Wang Wins AALS Award for Paper on Religious Freedom Xiao Wang (MPP '09), professor at UVA's School of Law and an affiliated Batten faculty member, has won the 2024 Harold Berman Award for Excellence in Scholarship from the Association of American Law Schools for his paper on a recent trend in religious freedom litigation. Learn more
Sep 27, 2023 Briefing Congress's "Problem Solvers" The co-directors of the Center for Effective Lawmaking -- Craig Volden of the Batten School and Tom Wiseman of Vanderbilt University -- held a briefing in DC recently with staff members of the congressional Problem Solvers Caucus to share their insights into what it takes to become an effective lawmaker. Read the blog
Sep 19, 2023 Alum in Action: Citizens Can Drive Democracy, Even After a SCOTUS Ruling Democracy Political Science Domestic Policy & Politics Xiao Wang (MPP '09) an assistant professor at the Law School and Batten School and an expert on the U.S. Constitution, spoke at this week's "Batten Hour" about the implications of citizen-driven initiatives in response to unpopular rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court. 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