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. 

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.

Join Batten's Craig Volden, professor of public policy and politics and director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL), and Gerry Warburg, professor of practice of public policy, for a conversation on the CEL’s recently-released legislative effectiveness scores for the 116th Congress.

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.

Hosted by the Center for Effective Lawmaking, please join us for Virtual Batten Hour, featuring Molly Ball. Ball is the National Political Correspondent for TIME and author of a new book on Nancy Pelosi (Pelosi). 

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?

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.

Which representatives and senators truly drive progress on specific public issues? Who gets things done, for example, when it comes to health care, or education, or defense? And how do they move specific legislation effectively through Congress?

Craig Volden, Professor of Public Policy and Politics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia and Co-Director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, along with Alan E. Wiseman, Professor and Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair at Vanderbilt University and also Co-Director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking,  will answer these questions and more in this unique half-day course.