A new report by Batten School Professor Jennifer Lawless highlights the gender gap in political ambition. The research declares that “politics remains a game for men.”

Colin Achilles is the Associate Director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL), a joint partnership between the Batten School and Vanderbilt University. He is the manager of day-to-day operations at CEL. 

Please join Batten professors Jen Lawless and Craig Volden for a conversation about the gender gap that exists when it comes to women’s ambition to run for political office.

In their new book "Why bad policies spread (and good one’s don’t)," Batten's Craig Volden and Charles R. Shipan draw from a wide range of policy domains to examine whether states learn from another to improve the spread of good or effective policies, which policies spread for which reasons and which conditions lead to good or bad policies to spread, among other core questions.

In a conversation moderated by Center for Effective Lawmaking Co-Director Professor Craig Volden, three Batten alums who currently work in Congress share their thoughts and stories. These three staffers will explain what their jobs look like and how their career trajectory led them to the Hill after graduation. 

Batten Professor Craig Volden no longer designs spacecraft—instead, he’s engineering a metric to combat political gridlock.

According to research from Batten's Center for Effective Lawmaking, retaining experienced legislative staff is crucial to Congress doing its job better. In an op-ed for The Hill, center co-directors Craig Volden and Alan E. Wiseman say that when it comes to congressional staff, we get what we pay for.

Committee chairs have long been considered power brokers for lawmaking, but according to research from the Center for Effective Lawmaking, their lawmaking effectiveness is diminishing. In an op-ed for The Hill, Batten's Craig Volden and Vanderbilt University's Alan E. Wiseman write about the trend.

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.

Amidst multiple crises, American lawmakers have valuable opportunities for crucial reforms. In an article for The Hill, Batten's Gerry Warburg discusses how Congress can chart a more sustainable path forward.