Volden: Committee Chairs Continue Their Lawmaking Decline

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.

Congressconsidered power brokers for lawmaking. But in the recently completed 116th Congress, their lawmaking effectiveness continued a downward slide.

How do you measure lawmaking effectiveness? At the Center for Effective Lawmaking, we developed a scoring system that combines fifteen metrics, capturing how many public bills each member of Congress introduces, how far those bills advance through the lawmaking process and how substantively significant they are. We use these scores to rank every member — relative to one another, relative to benchmarks and within 21 issue areas — in their lawmaking success.


Read in The Hill

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