Productive Politicians Fare Better in Primaries News 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.
Batten Hour: Super Tuesday: A Preview Event Jointly sponsored by the Batten School Center for Effective Lawmaking, join Batten Professor Jennifer L. Lawless and NYTimes Columnist Jamelle Bouie for a Batten Hour discussion previewing Super Tuesday. Lunch will be provided.
Congress is back in town. Here’s why lawmakers will struggle to get much done. News 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.
Spatial Models of Legislative Effectiveness Research Spatial models of policymaking have evolved from the median voter theorem through the inclusion of institutional considerations such as political parties, committees, and various voting and amendment rules. Such models, however, implicitly assume that no policy is more effective than another at solving public policy problems and that all proposers are equally capable of advancing proposals.
Professor Spotlight: Craig Volden News “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.”
Professor Jay Shimshack Appointed Batten School Associate Dean for Academic Affairs News The Batten School announced the appointment of Professor Jay Shimshack as associate dean for academic affairs. Shimshack succeeds Professor Craig Volden, who will conclude his distinguished four-year term as associate dean at the end of June and transition to the role of interim dean of the Batten School until Dean-elect Ian Solomon’s arrival on Sept. 1.
Batten’s Center for Effective Lawmaking Announces the Most Effective Lawmakers in the 115th Congress News Today the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL), a joint initiative between the University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and Vanderbilt University, announced the most effective lawmakers of the 115th Congress (2017-18).
Post-Election Wrap Up with Craig Volden News On Monday, Nov. 12, Batten students gathered in the Great Hall of Garrett Hall for a post-election wrap-up led by Batten’s Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL). This was not a typical Batten Hour with the exception that food was served. Rather, the event was reminiscent of a game of musical chairs. Every eight minutes, students moved to a new table, where CEL Director Craig Volden, Operations Director Greer Kelly, CEL researchers and interns, along with Professor of Practice of Public Policy Gerald Warburg, discussed the implications of last Tuesday's midterm election results.
The Significance of Batten Hosting Fifth District Debate News The non-partisan debate was moderated by Batten Professors Craig Volden and Gerald Warburg.
Party Calls and Reelection in the US Senate Research Minozzi and Volden advance the idea that a substantial portion of partisan voting activity in Congress is a simple call to unity that is especially easily embraced by ideological extremists. If correct, Minozzi and Volden’s findings should extend from the House to the Senate, despite differences in institutional structures and in tools at the disposal of party leaders across the two chambers.
Legislative Effectiveness in the United States Senate Research Just like members of the House, US senators vary in how effective they are at lawmaking. We create Legislative Effectiveness Scores for each senator in each of the 93rd–113th Congresses (1973–2015). We use these scores to explore common claims about institutional differences in lawmaking between the House and the Senate.
Leadership in American Politics Research In the polarized governing environment of American politics today, the problem of leadership becomes ever more pressing and ever more vexed. What defines leadership, what determines its importance and effectiveness, and how does it differ from one sphere of influence to another: these are the questions Leadership in American Politics addresses in an effort to clarify the causes and consequences of the actions that public leaders take.