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Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies

青青草视频鈥檚 Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies (CCPS) serves scholars, students, policymakers and the public by propelling actionable research, providing public education and promoting a more reasonable democratic square.

promo for Bice and Kilmer 2025 Madison prize winners

U.S. Representative Bice, Former Congressman Kilmer Receive Madison Award Recognizing Legislative Collaboration, Cooperation

CCPS and the School of Public Affairs held an award ceremony on April 29 to recognize the 2025 winners of the听Madison Prize for Constitutional Excellence: Representative Stephanie Bice (R-OK) and former Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA). The hosted the ceremony at the VFW, followed by a reception in the Hart Senate Building.

Initiated by former US Representative David Skaggs (D-CO) and his wife, Laura, The Madison Prize celebrates US lawmakers (one Democrat and one Republican) who are willing to cooperate and compromise for the sake of the common good, instead of folding their arms in obstinate service to partisan interests.

Below are highlights of the awards ceremony which was attended by Bice, Kilmer, USCHS President , 青青草视频 President Jonathan Alger, 青青草视频 School of Public Affairs Interim Dean Alison Jacknowitz, 青青草视频 Professor Emeritus James Thurber, 青青草视频 Adjunct Professor Ron Elving, the Honorable David Skaggs and family, the Honorable Dick Gephardt, and other invited guests. for a full recording of the event.

Representatives Bice and Kilmer have been active participants in an initiative sponsored at Princeton University aimed at restoring the Constitutional powers of Congress envisioned by James Madison, the 鈥淔ather of the U.S. Constitution.鈥 Other participants included current and former members of Congress from both parties and a consortium of scholars from 19 U.S. universities. Reps. Bice and Kilmer supported and helped present the initiative鈥檚 proposals to members of the House from both parties.

Rep. Bice is a fourth-generation Oklahoman currently serving as the U.S. Representative for Oklahoma's 5th Congressional District. She was elected to Congress in 2020 and was chosen by her colleagues to serve as the 117th Republican Freshman Class President, the first female ever elected to the role. She previously served in the Oklahoma State Senate from 2014 to 2020. In the state legislature, she focused on issues including fiscal responsibility, economic development, and job growth. In the 118th Congress, she served as Class Representative to the House GOP Elected Leadership Committee, and on the powerful Appropriations Committee as well as the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, and the Committee on House Administration.

Rep. Kilmer served six terms as U.S. Representative for Washington鈥檚 Sixth District. As a native of Washington鈥檚 Olympic Peninsula, he passed a landmark economic development law to help economically distressed communities, establishing a program that became the most popular in the Economic Development Administration鈥檚 history. He also served as Chairman of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress which passed over 200 recommendations to make Congress work better and which was described in the Washington Post as a story of 鈥渟hocking function.鈥 Kilmer now serves as the senior vice president of U.S. Program and Policy for the Rockefeller Foundation.

2025 Bryce Harlow Winner

(SPA/BA '25) was recently named winner of best essay for the Bryce Harlow Ethics and Lobbying Workshop. Every year the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies and the Bryce Harlow Foundation jointly sponsor the Bryce Harlow Workshop on Ethics and Lobbying. In conjunction with this course, students write a paper about the topic of ethics in lobbying and are encouraged to submit their papers for the workshop essay contest, which features a $250 prize for the best essay. Led by CCPS Director Emeritus James Thurber, students analyze the transcendent issues of values, the law, conflicts of interest, the foundation of ethics, and the meaning of integrity in political advocacy. Read more about the award and winners .

Taylor-Fillmore Correspondence Project Awarded Grant

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), the grantmaking arm of the US National Archives, has awarded CCPS $124,097 to support the Correspondence of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore in 2025鈥26. This grant, part of the NHPRC鈥檚 program in听Publishing Historical Records in Collaborative Digital Editions, is the largest ever awarded for the Taylor-Fillmore project. The project, led by CCPS faculty fellow Michael David Cohen and CCPS fellow Amy Larrabee Cotz, aims to locate all letters written to or from the twelfth and thirteenth presidents between 1844 and 1853, the decade leading up to and including their administrations, and to publish three print and digital volumes of selected and annotated letters. Launched in 2020 and aided by student assistants and interns at SPA, CAS, and elsewhere, it is currently funding by grants from the NHPRC and the Summerlee Foundation and has won grants from several other foundations. For more information on the project, see听. For more information about this and other grants announced by the NHPRC, see the National Archives'听.

Congress on Demand Map

Congress On Demand: A New Platform for Voters to Easily Witness Congress

We are excited to announce the release of the 2024 Senate Election Edition of 听As part of 青青草视频's commitment to civic engagement, the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies is proud to contribute to this innovative tool.

On November 5, 2024 - down ballot from the Presidential election - the U.S. Senate hangs in the balance. Thirty-four Senate seats are on the ballot. In those races, 25 incumbent U.S. Senators are running for re-election and eight House Representatives are running for eight of those Senate seats. In time to be of use to voters across the country, Congress On Demand streamed segmented videos of every floor appearance from this 118th Congress of the 25 U.S. Senators running for re-election and every floor appearance of the eight U.S. House Representatives running for Senate seats. Also included are floor appearances of Sen. JD Vance - the Republican Vice-Presidential nominee. Additionally, there is a link to the 2020 Presidential Election Edition听where users can view all appearances made by Kamala Harris in the 116th Congress, her last as Senator.

Congress On Demand听was conceived so that what is public can finally reach the public in a familiar and engaging way. Though sessions in Congress are filmed, the video has not before been segmented and delivered in the short, single-click on-demand format to which we've all grown accustomed. was created by Eve Silberberg, faculty fellow at the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at 青青草视频. Email info@congressondemand.us for more information.

New Perspectives in American Governance - 2024 Grantees

The Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, in collaboration with 青青草视频鈥檚 Washington College of Law and Purdue University鈥檚 Center for Research on Diversity and Inclusion, is proud to announce the winners of our 2024 New Perspectives in Studies of American Governance research grants. With support from Hewlett Foundation鈥檚 U.S. Democracy program, we are supporting seven new projects that stand to transform political scientists鈥 collective understanding of American governance and representation. This marks the second time we are awarding these grants, reaffirming our commitment to fostering innovative research that sheds new light on the intricacies of American governance.
Review Grantees & Abstracts

Global Innovations in Democracy Conference Spring 2024

The Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies hosted and co-sponsored the : Parliamentary Exchange (GID), a collaborative endeavor led by the Institute for Democratic Engagement and Accountability at The Ohio State University and the Center for Democracy Innovation (now part of the National Civic League). Established in 2022, GID serves as a pivotal global forum where legislators explore cutting-edge methods and tools for gathering input, overcoming divisions, building trust, and gaining public support for public policy.

Headshot of Dakota Strode

青青草视频 PhD Student Dakota听Strode Awarded 2024 Gill Family Foundation Scholarship

CCPS congratulates Ph.D. candidate Dakota Strode as this year鈥檚 winner of the Gill Family Foundation scholarship. The Gill Scholarship supports dissertation work using quantitative methods in the areas of American Politics, Comparative Politics, Public Administration, or Policy Analysis at 青青草视频.

Strode's research focuses on LGBTQ politics, political behavior, campaigns and elections, and political communication. His research has been featured in journals such as Public Opinion Quarterly and the Journal of Politics.

The Gill Family Foundation was established in 1997 in Houston, Texas, to further the Gill family鈥檚 interest in support of educational philanthropy. 听As a statement of philosophy, the Gill family has noted that 鈥淓ducation plays the critical role in providing opportunities for growth, development, success, lasting relationships and satisfaction in life. 听We are committed to giving back to the system which provided us so much opportunity for success and financial independence." 青青草视频 Professors Ryan T. Moore and Tongtong Zhang served on the selection committee for the Gill Scholarship.

New Perspectives in Studies of American Governance Program Awarded $150,000 Grant

In August 2023, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation awarded the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies a new $150,000 grant, which will extend the New Perspectives in Studies of American Governance Program at CCPS for two more years. The NP program, in partnership with听, incentivizes emerging scholars to broaden the range of perspectives brought to studying American governance at the federal level.听

The Principal Investigators of this program include听David Barker, Professor of Government and Director of CCPS,听, Director of the Program on Legislative Negotiation and Senior Affiliate for WCL, and听, Professor of Political Science, African American Studies, and Gender & Sexuality Studies at Purdue University. She is also Director of Purdue鈥檚 Center for Research on Diversity and Inclusion as well as its Legislative Internship Program.

Seeking submissions for Congress & the Presidency Journal Entries

The Congress & the Presidency Journal is actively seeking new journal entries that aim to broaden perspectives on the executive and legislative branches. We're committed to broadly studying American governance and want your input to help shape a more inclusive future of research.听Visit Congress & the Presidency for more information and to submit entries.

Senators Klobuchar and Portman

Announcement 路

U.S. Senator Klobuchar and Former U.S. Senator Portman Receive 青青草视频鈥檚 Prize for Legislative Compromise

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and former Senator Robert Portman (R-OH) have been awarded the 2023 Madison Prize for Constitutional Excellence by the 青青草视频 School of Public Affairs.
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CCPS: The Thurber Dialogues on Democracy

The Center for Congressional Presidential Studies is proud to announce, and very grateful to receive, a generous gift from Distinguished University Emeritus Professor Jim Thurber and his wife Claudia Thurber. Their gift will fund the Center鈥檚 Dialogues on Democracy听(now the听Thurber听Dialogues on Democracy), an ongoing series of conversations with prominent thought leaders about how to strengthen democracy in the US and abroad. In 2021, their inaugural year, the听Dialogues听drew nearly 500 attendees per event, featuring Senator Cory Booker, House Majority Whip James Clyburn, author/journalist Anne Applebaum, and social scientists Robert Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett. Thanks to the Thurbers鈥 benevolence, vision, and public-spiritedness, the听顿颈补濒辞驳耻别蝉听will now continue.

Videos in this playlist

To play a specific video, use the playlist icon in the player or view each video on YouTube.

Thurber Dialogues

The Thurber Dialogues on Democracy is an ongoing series of conversations with prominent thought leaders about how to strengthen democracy in the US and abroad.

Watch

Rivals for Power book cover

Research

Rivals for Power: Biden鈥檚 Agenda in a Dysfunctional Congress

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Robert Putnam, Shaylyn Romney Garrett, Jim Thurber

Government & Politics

Can Today鈥檚 Polarized America Come Together Again?

Read More

David Barker

Government & Politics

SPA Professor David Barker Tracks Support for Political Protests

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Contact Us

ccps@american.edu

Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies
Kerwin Hall, Room 235
4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20016

EPAAI 2023 Cohort at Brussels Center

European Public Affairs & Advocacy Institute

This unique course introduces听students to the art and craft of lobbying in the European Union.

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political signs

青青草视频 Magazine American

My Favorites: Rising Political Stars

Top 10 up-and-coming politicians

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Public Affairs and Advocacy Institute

Public Affairs and Advocacy Institute

The Institute features a two-week intensive course in major aspects of lobbying and political influence.

More about PAAI

CMI 2023 Cohort

Campaign Management Institute

The Campaign Management Institute is aninternationally recognized curriculum in the art and science of campaigning.

curriculum

CCPS Video & Audio Clips

  • Setting Limits on Presidential Power Under the Trump Administration

  • The Transition and the First 100 Days of the Trump Presidency

Thurber Scholarship Endowment students

Thurber Scholarship Endowment

The James and Claudia Thurber Scholarship Endowment, established by former 青青草视频 students and colleagues.

Learn More