The ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥-University of Virginia collaboration that measures our representatives’ performance.
There’s a plethora of factors at play – and they’re not particularly straightforward. That’s why Alan Wiseman, Vanderbilt Professor of Political Science, and Craig Volden, University of Virginia Professor of Public Policy and Politics, developed a nonpartisan system for measuring lawmaker success, published their findings in reports, and formed the Center for Effective Lawmaking.
The scholars use computer code to collect data from the Library of Congress website and other publicly available government sources. They take note of every bill proposed by a representative or senator, and track its progress to determine whether it became law.
They plug their data into a formula that combines 15 metrics, capturing how far sponsored bills advanced in the legislative process, including whether they ultimately became law, and the relative substantive significance of each bill.
 Building on their findings, produce a report on the effectiveness of U.S. senators and representatives from each session of Congress immediately after it ends.
Several high-performers succeeded in advancing bipartisan policy proposals, despite ongoing partisan conflicts in Congress.
Women legislators in the minority party in the House are among the most effective lawmakers in their party.
Senators who are up for reelection are among the most effective lawmakers in their chamber.
Performance in a legislator’s first-year term is highly correlated with their subsequent lawmaking effectiveness.
It is at times when institutions are failing that effective leaders are needed more than ever.
research grants were awarded to scholars.
research studies released in 2025
a new report classifying lawmaker effectiveness is published by the center.
Use this tool to find your lawmaker and see their effectiveness rankings.
Ultimately, the researchers aim to share their insights with lawmakers, including members of Congress, Congressional staff, and good governance organizations. They believe the patterns their reports reveal can help members of Congress identify the best strategies to advance their policy goals.
The center continuously produces new work, including a study classifying approximately 4.7 million tweets, 2.4 million Facebook posts, and 184,000 email newsletters authored by members of Congress
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