About News News Subscribe Political Science Democracy Domestic Policy & Politics Leadership Health Policy Ethics Advocacy Racial Justice and Equity Facet Area of Focus - News Craig Volden Gerald Warburg Michael D. Williams Jennifer Lawless Timothy L. 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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. Read in Forbes Jun 17, 2021 Faculty Spotlight: Improving the Way We Make Laws, with Science Political Science Batten Professor Craig Volden no longer designs spacecraft—instead, he’s engineering a metric to combat political gridlock. Learn more Jun 07, 2021 Volden: Experienced Staff Promote Effective Lawmaking Political Science 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. Read in The Hill Mar 25, 2021 Volden: Committee Chairs Continue Their Lawmaking Decline Political Science Leadership 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. Read in The Hill Mar 17, 2021 The “Do-Something” Members of the 116th Congress: Legislative Effectiveness Study from the Batten School and Vanderbilt University Identifies Member Success in Advancing Bills Political Science Leadership 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. Learn more Feb 16, 2021 Warburg: Congress Must Step Up To Restore Accountability To National Security Policy Democracy Ethics 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. Read in The Hill Jan 12, 2021 How Women Leaders Can Enhance Rulemaking In The Biden Administration Leadership Ethics 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. Read In Brookings Dec 07, 2020 Focus on Cabinet Nominees' Effectiveness and Expertise, Not Just Ideology Political Science Leadership 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. Read In The Hill Sep 18, 2020 Members of Congress are Specializing Less Often. Volden and Wiseman Say That Makes Them Less Effective. Democracy Political Science 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? Read in The Washington Post Aug 05, 2020 Scoring Effectiveness in Congress Political Science 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. Learn more May 14, 2020 Advocates say Reopening Plan puts Communities of Color at Risk Advocacy Health Policy Batten's Dr. Michael Williams acknowledges that Virginia Governor Ralph Northam is under pressure to reopen, but says the state isn’t ready yet. "To be able to do it safely, I think additional things need to be in place that are not necessarily in place for all members of our society." Listen on WVTF May 08, 2020 Class of 2020: Batten MPP Grad to Continue Mission of Service Health Policy Committed to serving communities in crisis, LeAnn Golding (MPP ’20) prepares for her next step with the American Red Cross. Learn more Pagination Previous page ‹ Previous Page 1 Current page 2 Page 3 Next page Next › Stay Up To Date with the Latest Batten News and Events Subscribe
Oct 15, 2021 Why Do Bad Policies So Often Spread But Good Ones Don’t? Domestic Policy & Politics 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. Read in Forbes
Jun 17, 2021 Faculty Spotlight: Improving the Way We Make Laws, with Science Political Science Batten Professor Craig Volden no longer designs spacecraft—instead, he’s engineering a metric to combat political gridlock. Learn more
Jun 07, 2021 Volden: Experienced Staff Promote Effective Lawmaking Political Science 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. Read in The Hill
Mar 25, 2021 Volden: Committee Chairs Continue Their Lawmaking Decline Political Science Leadership 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. Read in The Hill
Mar 17, 2021 The “Do-Something” Members of the 116th Congress: Legislative Effectiveness Study from the Batten School and Vanderbilt University Identifies Member Success in Advancing Bills Political Science Leadership 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. Learn more
Feb 16, 2021 Warburg: Congress Must Step Up To Restore Accountability To National Security Policy Democracy Ethics 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. Read in The Hill
Jan 12, 2021 How Women Leaders Can Enhance Rulemaking In The Biden Administration Leadership Ethics 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. Read In Brookings
Dec 07, 2020 Focus on Cabinet Nominees' Effectiveness and Expertise, Not Just Ideology Political Science Leadership 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. Read In The Hill
Sep 18, 2020 Members of Congress are Specializing Less Often. Volden and Wiseman Say That Makes Them Less Effective. Democracy Political Science 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? Read in The Washington Post
Aug 05, 2020 Scoring Effectiveness in Congress Political Science 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. Learn more
May 14, 2020 Advocates say Reopening Plan puts Communities of Color at Risk Advocacy Health Policy Batten's Dr. Michael Williams acknowledges that Virginia Governor Ralph Northam is under pressure to reopen, but says the state isn’t ready yet. "To be able to do it safely, I think additional things need to be in place that are not necessarily in place for all members of our society." Listen on WVTF
May 08, 2020 Class of 2020: Batten MPP Grad to Continue Mission of Service Health Policy Committed to serving communities in crisis, LeAnn Golding (MPP ’20) prepares for her next step with the American Red Cross. Learn more