A papermaking method and a composition which utilize, as a drainage aid, a water-soluble anionic copolymer prepared via a water-in-oil polymerization technique that, absent a cross-linking agent, is characterized by a Huggins' constant (k') determined in 0.01M NaCl greater than 0.75 and a storage modulus (G') for a 1.5 wt. % actives polymer solution at 4.6 Hz greater than 175 Pa.