As voters prepare to go to the polls Nov. 4, they will be able to take the measure of their congressional representatives’ effectiveness using a new website developed by Vanderbilt University and University of Virginia political scientists. The site will launch Tuesday, Oct. 14, at 1 p.m. at the National Press Club.
The website is the work of Alan E. Wiseman, associate professor of political science and law at Vanderbilt University and Craig Volden, professor of public policy and politics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia.
Volden and Wiseman are partners on the Legislative Effectiveness Project, a joint research project that seeks to understand why some members of the United States Congress are more effective at lawmaking than others. They have developed precise research methodology to evaluate lawmakers’ performance, resulting in a Legislative Effectiveness Score for each member of the House of Representatives from the 93rd through the 112th Congresses (1973-2012).
The researchers’ book on the project, Legislative Effectiveness in the United States Congress: The Lawmakers, is in press now at Cambridge University Press and will be available to the public in late October.
At the event, Volden and Wiseman will discuss their research, demonstrate the data and comparisons available using the website, give a preview of the new book, and answer questions from the media.
Members of the media who plan to attend are encouraged to R.S.V.P. to melanie.moran@vanderbilt.edu. Media who would like to request an advance copy of the book when it becomes available should contact Moran or Bruce Vlk, bav2n@virginia.edu.
WHAT: Political scientists Alan Wiseman, Vanderbilt University, and Craig Volden, University of Virginia, discuss new website and book grading members of Congress
WHEN: Tuesday, Oct.14, 1-2 p.m.
WHERE: The National Press Club, Zenger Room
529 14th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20045