This book explores why some members of Congress are more effective than others at navigating the legislative process and what this means.

1. Introduction; 2. Measuring legislative effectiveness; 3. The keys to majority-party effectiveness in Congress; 4. A tale of three minorities; 5. Gridlock and effective lawmaking, issue by issue; 6. The habits of highly effective lawmakers; 7. The future of legislative effectiveness.

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).