Sooo... Can We Measure How Effective Legislators Are?
Professors Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman think so.
We voters often say that we want our senators and members of Congress to do things, and preferably, the right things. We tend to dislike it when we see people on Capitol Hill who are all talk and no action. And in theory, we should vote out of office those lawmakers who are ineffective.
Let me have a caveat here. To be sure, there are some legislators who have turned noise making into a profitable brand, and they do use it to get reelected again and again. But in my 20 years of watching Capitol Hill, it’s my estimate that they comprise a small percentage of the total membership. Most people in Congress are, to varying degrees, trying to get things done. So how, then, are we voters supposed to tell which of these legislators are effective and which are not?
To help me answer that question, I have with me Craig Volden. He is a professor of Public Policy and Politics at the University of Virginia. Dr. Volden is the author of many publications. Critically for this podcast’s purpose, he is the founder and co-director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, which produces scores of legislator effectiveness that you can find at: thelawmakers.org.
Listen to our conversation at https://understandingcongress.org/2024/02/05/what-is-legislative-effectiveness-with-craig-volden/.
I look forward to listening to the podcast, but having spent much time electing and working for House and Senate members, I know they each defined "effectiveness" very differently and individually, from clicks and media to amendments, dollars brought back to the district, and more, focused on the particular areas of expertise the member wants to focus on (education, armed services, etc.). It strikes me as a huge, if not insurmountable, challenge unless you have preconceived notions of "effectiveness" that reflect a particular agenda.