scholarly journals Identifying hidden coalitions in the US House of Representatives by optimally partitioning signed networks based on generalized balance

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samin Aref ◽  
Zachary P. Neal
Keyword(s):  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Balance Theory ◽  
Majority Party ◽  
Network Partition ◽  
Signed Networks ◽  
Cluster Partition ◽  
Optimal Network ◽  
The Us ◽  
Signed Network ◽  
Better Than

AbstractIn network science, identifying optimal partitions of a signed network into internally cohesive and mutually divisive clusters based on generalized balance theory is computationally challenging. We reformulate and generalize two binary linear programming models that tackle this challenge, demonstrating their practicality by applying them to partition signed networks of collaboration and opposition in the US House of Representatives. These models guarantee a globally optimal network partition and can be practically applied to signed networks containing up to 30,000 edges. In the US House context, we find that a three-cluster partition is better than a conventional two-cluster partition, where the otherwise hidden third coalition is composed of highly effective legislators who are ideologically aligned with the majority party.

Dyadic imbalance in networks

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Burghardt ◽  
Zeev Maoz
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Null Model ◽  
Balance Theory ◽  
Significant Information ◽  
Signed Networks ◽  
Structural Balance ◽  
The Us ◽  
Signed Network ◽  
Us Senate

Abstract The study of balance in signed networks has been a key topic for over 80 years. Starting with Heider’s theory of structural balance and Harary’s balance theorem, the measurement and understanding of structural balance in networks has grown exponentially. Most theoretical and empirical studies, however, focus on balance on the network as a whole, even though the degree of balance may strongly vary within the network. Our study makes two key contributions to this literature. First, we offer a methodology for measuring balance between nodes in a network. We show that dyadic (im)balance reveals significant information about localized balance that is not apparent in a global metric of balance. Second, we show that this metric can be applied to data containing multiple relations, for example, friendship, enmity, trade and fights, which reveals balance and imbalance otherwise hidden when focusing on only two relations (e.g. friends and enemies). Namely, while balance typically involves unweighted signed networks, multiple relations can naturally be condensed into a weighted signed network where positive (negative) weights correspond to a sum of positive (negative) relations between nodes. Our dyadic imbalance metric can then be applied to this and any other weighted signed network. These findings are illustrated with an international relations network as well as a network on roll call votes in the US Senate and compared to a null model that preserves network structure. We find weak agreement with Heider’s balance theory, including imbalance that decreases in time, and imbalance that is generally lower than our null model.

How the Speaker of the US House of Representatives from the ‘Other Party’ Shaped American Politics Since 1945

2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 377-395
Author(s):  
Saumyajit Ray
Keyword(s):  
House Of Representatives ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Other ◽  
Majority Party ◽  
The Us ◽  
Speaker Of The House ◽  
Executive Action ◽  
The Government ◽  
Newt Gingrich ◽  
Selection Of

In the presidential system of government in the United States, the President’s party has on more than one occasion been reduced to a minority in the federal legislature. The US President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives—the leader of the majority party—had often found themselves clashing on matters of policy, legislation, and executive action. This essay makes a careful selection of five House Speakers in the post-1945 period, all belonging to the ‘other party’, and explores their relations with the Presidents of their times. Out of these, only Newt Gingrich succeeded in dividing the government as never before, demonstrating that the House Speaker had the capacity to stall government altogether, something even a ‘Leader of the Opposition’ in a parliamentary system can never do.

Parties, agendas, and roll rates

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 348-359
Author(s):  
Shawn Patterson ◽  
Thomas Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Combinatorial Problem ◽  
Agenda Control ◽  
Majority Party ◽  
The Us

For the US House of Representatives, Cox and McCubbins discover tiny majority-party roll rates and offer them as evidence of majority-party agenda control. However, the observed roll rates are approximately what would result from chance alone or from chance constrained in several natural ways. Besides that, we show that rolls themselves are not evidence of any lapse in partisan agenda control and may even occur as the intended consequence of agenda setting by the majority party. Innovations include a solution to the combinatorial problem of counting all possible rolls, the associated computations, hypothetical examples of strategically advantageous self-induced rolls, and a review of likely real examples of the same.

An Evolutionary and Local Refinement Approach for Community Detection in Signed Networks

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (04) ◽  
pp. 1650021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessia Amelio ◽  
Clara Pizzuti
Keyword(s):  
Local Search ◽  
Search Strategy ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Ground Truth ◽  
Local Refinement ◽  
Signed Networks ◽  
Signed Network ◽  
Local Search Strategy ◽  
State Of Art ◽  
Better Than

An approach to detect communities in signed networks that combines Genetic Algorithms and local search is proposed. The method optimizes the concepts of modularity and frustration in order to find network divisions far from random partitions, and having positive and dense intra-connections, while sparse and negative inter-connections. A local search strategy to improve the network division is performed by moving nodes having positive connections with nodes of other communities, to neighboring communities, provided that there is an increase in signed modularity. An extensive experimental evaluation on randomly generated networks for which the ground-truth division is known proves that the method is competitive with a state-of-art approach, and it is capable to find accurate solutions. Moreover, a comparison on a real life signed network shows that our approach obtains communities that minimize the positive inter-connections and maximize the negative intra-connections better than the contestant methods.

Assessing minority party influence on partisan issue attention in the US House of representatives, 1989–2012

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Majority Party ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Specific Policy ◽  
Minority Party ◽  
The Us ◽  
Issue Attention ◽  
House Floor

The majority party dominates legislative outputs and throughputs in rule-driven institutions, but these agenda-setting powers may not extend to other facets of the policy process. This article assesses the minority party’s ability to influence majority party issue attention in the US House of Representatives by analyzing one-minute speeches given on the House floor. This new measure of partisan issue attention highlights how the parties focus on the same policy issues in the same relative proportions, rather than crafting divergent issue agendas. Time series analysis indicates gaps between the parties’ level of attention to particular issues result in corresponding changes to majority party attention, which suggests the minority party can influence majority party issue attention by placing more emphasis on specific policy issues.

New US Trade Policy: A Turning Point?

2007 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-8
Author(s):  
Maria Fabiana Jorge
Keyword(s):  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Access To Medicines ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Majority Party ◽  
Bilateral Agreements ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Trade Policy

Trade agreements on intellectual property (IP) became a useful tool for patent holders to increase their exclusive marketing rights around the world. Bilateral agreements have gradually increased the standards of protection beyond those of the TRIPS agreement creating a growing imbalance between the rights of IP holders on one side and those of consumers and the generic industry, on the other. After the Democratic Party became the majority party in the US Congress in January 2007, the new leadership of the Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives forced the US Trade Representative to reopen the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Peru, Panama and Colombia, the ratification of which was pending, and introduced substantial changes to the final texts to reduce the negative effects on access to medicines posed by the original agreements. This seems to mark a significant turning point but all will depend on how these governments implement the FTAs into their national laws and on whether they actually take advantage of this opportunity. Will other governments follow the leadership shown by the Ways and Means Committee?

Interaction of Ukrainian Diaspora and the USA Government Regarding Celebration of Ukrainian Independence Day on January 22

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (47) ◽  
pp. 136-145
Author(s):  
Halyna Shchyhelska
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
House Of Representatives ◽  
The United States ◽  
100Th Anniversary ◽  
Totalitarian Regime ◽  
The Public ◽  
Us Congress ◽  
The Us ◽  
Public Consciousness ◽  
The Usa

2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of Ukrainian independence. OnJanuary 22, 1918, the Ukrainian People’s Republic proclaimed its independence by adopting the IV Universal of the Ukrainian Central Rada, although this significant event was «wiped out» from the public consciousness on the territory of Ukraine during the years of the Soviet totalitarian regime. At the same time, January 22 was a crucial event for the Ukrainian diaspora in the USA. This article examines how American Ukrainians interacted with the USA Government institutions regarding the celebration and recognition of the Ukrainian Independence day on January 22. The attention is focused on the activities of ethnic Ukrainians in the United States, directed at the organization of the special celebration of the Ukrainian Independence anniversaries in the US Congress and cities. Drawing from the diaspora press and Congressional Records, this article argues that many members of Congress participated in the observed celebration and expressed kind feelings to the Ukrainian people, recognised their fight for freedom, during the House of Representatives and Senate sessions. Several Congressmen submitted the resolutions in the US Congress urging the President of United States to designate January 22 as «Ukrainian lndependence Day». January 22 was proclaimed Ukrainian Day by the governors of fifteen States and mayors of many cities. Keywords: January 22, Ukrainian independence day, Ukrainian diaspora, USA, interaction, Congress

scholarly journals Mean-field solution for critical behavior of signed networks in competitive balance theory

2021 ◽  
Vol 103 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Masoumi ◽  
F. Oloomi ◽  
A. Kargaran ◽  
A. Hosseiny ◽  
G. R. Jafari
Keyword(s):  
Critical Behavior ◽  
Mean Field ◽  
Balance Theory ◽  
Competitive Balance ◽  
Signed Networks ◽  
Field Solution

scholarly journals A signed network perspective on the government formation process in parliamentary democracies

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Fontan ◽  
Claudio Altafini
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Formation Process ◽  
Signed Graph ◽  
Balance Theory ◽  
Collective Decision Making ◽  
Dynamical Models ◽  
Average Correlation ◽  
Parliamentary Democracies ◽  
Signed Network ◽  
The Government

AbstractIn parliamentary democracies, government negotiations talks following a general election can sometimes be a long and laborious process. In order to explain this phenomenon, in this paper we use structural balance theory to represent a multiparty parliament as a signed network, with edge signs representing alliances and rivalries among parties. We show that the notion of frustration, which quantifies the amount of “disorder” encoded in the signed graph, correlates very well with the duration of the government negotiation talks. For the 29 European countries considered in this study, the average correlation between frustration and government negotiation talks ranges between 0.42 and 0.69, depending on what information is included in the edges of the signed network. Dynamical models of collective decision-making over signed networks with varying frustration are proposed to explain this correlation.

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