APRILab: Politics. Improved.
Political Science
American politics is a system flooded with issues caused by institutional dysfunction, democratic backsliding, and unequal political influence. Scholars of political science have grown increasingly concerned as the system seems to sink deeper into an unfavorable abyss, leaving a feeling of anxiety that weighs down political scientists and spreads to American citizens. And yet, there is hope that generations of young activists hold the ability to restore the American political system as they become more integrated into political affairs.
We are the American Political Reform & Innovation Laboratory (APRILab) at James Madison University, the new research laboratory in the political science department headed by Dr. Tim LaPira. Our aim is to use non-partisan political and data science analysis to make evidence-based political reform recommendations to policymakers. APRILab researches established practices in United States political systems and recommends actionable change toward a better political future.
Inspiring Student Engagement: An Innovative Undergraduate Research Experience
In partnership with the College of Arts and Letters – as well as external collaborators in the national good government advocacy community like OpenSecrets, Democracy Fund, and the Bipartisan Policy Center – we have the opportunity to gain hands-on research experience in a laboratory setting. We are developing a full understanding of real-world applications to advance our shared academic and practical efforts to improve politics and government.
The Department of Political Science at James Madison University has an established history of mentoring students to enhance professional development skills. According to Dean of the College of Arts and Letters, Dr. Robert Aguirre, “I am delighted that APRILab can continue the tradition of giving our students unique undergraduate research experiences like this.” In the lab, our time is spent engaging in experiential learning.
In our first major project during the 2022-2023 academic year APRILab continues to honor this standard as we foster an environment where research assistants provide new perspectives on how Congress has allocated its own resources, time, and energy. These changes offer fresh insight into how the increasingly partisan system has developed in recent decades.
Many political science department alumni may recall having similar research assistant experiences, but APRILab offers an exciting new opportunity. Much like a paid internship, we are financially compensated for our work in the lab. The lab values our contributions towards producing a common good for academics and the public alike, and we earn much-needed financial resources to put toward our education. The goal is to make these kinds of undergraduate research experiences accessible for all students on campus. As a result, the lab is bridging the academic and real-world by elevating a new workforce with advanced methodological skills that will meet the demands of the current, dynamic job market.
APRILab gives us the opportunity to be a part of a much larger institutional reform. The skills and training we develop as research assistants directly translate to the public good through the lab’s public engagement efforts to foster evidence-based political innovation. As we work on our contribution to the betterment of American politics, we hold on to hope to accomplish broader, long-lasting change to impact not only our lives, but to set the stage for a better future for generations to come.
From Evidence to Impact
Currently, we are archiving data on Congressional staff from printed Congressional Yellow Book directories to verify accuracy of data collected from print versions and maintain data collection records to track productivity. This data collection effort allows us to establish patterns in regard to the change versus the continuity of government focus over time. How has Congress changed how it allocates legislative branch resources over time? Do professional staff on Capitol Hill develop specialized policy knowledge, or are they stretched so thin that they never develop expertise? Are staff given incentives to continue careers in public service, or are they chewed up and spit out by the Washington establishment? Through research and application of findings, we hope to help implement best practices to improve public service on Capitol Hill.
In alignment with JMU’s advancement into an R2 research institution, another APRILab goal is to increase research impact. The lab is adding to Dr. LaPira’s previous experience as a fellow at the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. His work in that committee contributed to key recommendations that resulted in the largest pay increase for congressional staffers to date. We continue this research to catalog professional histories using ocular character recognition (OCR) well back in time, for both sides of the Capitol. In the end, we will have put together the largest, most comprehensive, and most detailed congressional staffer database ever. Long term, we hope to use this vast data collection to help fix how Congress works for the American people.
Building into the future
In the future, we plan on surveying public servants and political experts in Washington and collecting new data on government relations professionals to provide even more transparency into the transformation of politics from the 1970s to the modern era. In response to the ever-changing nature of information exchange, we will also bring current political news directly to the American people. We will share a breakdown of complex political information to inform and educate people on local, national, and international issues.
APRILab and the JMU Vision: Engaging with Ideas and the World
Beyond Dr. LaPira’s research agenda, our lab also hopes to cultivate a community in which we can connect the ivory tower with actual people trying to improve American politics. This includes internally developing research opportunities for other JMU faculty and for students undertaking similar projects. We also aspire to build an external network of reform advocacy organizations to bring them together with social scientists to boost the reform and innovation agenda in the future. As Dr. LaPira says, “I have tried to develop a career with one foot in academia and one foot in Washington’s good government community. I hope my student colleagues can take what they learn in the lab and apply it to their own public service careers.”
American democracy inspires us to conduct research on an everyday basis, ask questions and look for answers. Yet, we must be using evidence-based and data-informed processes to uncover the truth. APRILab will elevate and expand our real-world governmental knowledge about how politics and government works. Our work will help us better understand how to implement political reform based on our past and history as a democracy. We will use our skills to build the foundation of informed citizens by joining political science and public service. To quote our namesake and political innovator, James Madison, “the advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.”
