Description: This book explores why some members of Congress are more effective than others at navigating the legislative process and what this means for how Congress is organized and what policies it produces. Craig Volden and Alan E. Wiseman develop a new metric of individual legislator effectiveness (the Legislative Effectiveness Score) that will be of interest to scholars, voters, and politicians alike. They use these scores to study party influence in Congress, the successes or failures of women and African Americans in Congress, policy gridlock, and the specific strategies that lawmakers employ to advance their agendas.
Brief description: Craig Volden is Professor of Public Policy and Politics, with appointments in the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics, at the University of Virginia. He has published numerous articles in such journals as the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, and Publius: The Journal of Federalism. Volden is co-author (with David W. Brady) of Revolving Gridlock: Politics and Policy from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush (2006).
Review Quotes: "This groundbreaking research shows the value of having more women in Congress. Among other important findings, Volden and Wiseman clearly show that women more effectively build coalitions across party lines and focus more directly on getting things done. That has certainly been my experience throughout the past two decades, and it reinforces what I've said all along: we need more women in public office. The answer to the partisan gridlock that currently plagues congress can be found in a very simple question: where are the women?"
Carolyn Maloney, United States Representative (Democrat - New York)