Measuring and Promoting Effective Lawmaking in Congress and the States

In our 250th year of democracy in America, the country faces numerous challenges. Many public policy problems remain unaddressed. Congress and the state legislatures are unsure about how togovern in the face of rising presidential powers. And the country needs a new generation of political leaders to guide us forward.

Professor Craig Volden at the University of Virginia directs the Center for Effective Lawmaking, which seeks to study and promote effective lawmaking in Congress and the states. Volden will describe how the Center measures and scores the effectiveness of each member of Congress and each state legislator. He will discuss the habits of highly effective lawmakers and a series of studies from the Center that highlight how American legislatures can regain their rightful place—comprised of effective lawmakers, strong institutional capacity and the incentive structure needed to address America’s greater public policy challenges.

This talk is offered both in person and online. RSVP is requested. Light refreshments will be served.

Craig Volden is Co-Director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking. He is a Professor of Public Policy and Politics, with appointments in the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia. He studies the politics of public policy, with a focus on what policy choices arise within legislative institutions and within American federalism.

His work on effective lawmaking includes Legislative Effectiveness in the United States Congress: The Lawmakers, co-authored with Alan Wiseman, which develops a methodology for scoring the lawmaking effectiveness of each member of Congress, identifying how lawmakers could better address the nation’s policy problems. That work won the Fenno Prize for the best book on legislative politics and the Gladys M. Kammerer Award for the best book on U.S. national policy. He has published numerous articles in such journals as: American Political Science Review; American Journal of Political Science; Journal of Politics; Legislative Studies Quarterly; and State Politics and Policy Quarterly.