Using Committee Hearings to Place Lobbyists, Experts and Other Outside Agents into Legislative Preference Space

Theoretical expectations regarding the legislative influence of outside agents, such as lobbyists, agency officials or policy experts, often depend on the relationship between legislators' and agents' preferences. Non-elected agents, however, typically will have preferences defined on a dimension that is different from that of elected legislators. I develop a bridging method that accommodates when the agent preference space shifts and rotates relative to the legislator roll-call preference space, and that identifies distances across the two dimensions in meaningful units necessary to test institutional hypotheses. In my application to Medicare hearings, I show that the agent preference space has an orthogonal rotation anchored by a quality-cost latent dimension, and that legislators heavily condition their questioning of agents on preference distance in a way consistent with informational models of lobbying.

Finding algorithm of optimal subset structure based on the Pareto layers in the knapsack problem

An algorithm is developed for finding the structure of the optimal subset in the knapsack problem based on the proposed multicriteria optimization model. A two-criteria relation of preference between elements of the set of initial data is introduced. This set has been split into separate Pareto layers. The depth concept of the elements dominance of an individual Pareto layer is formulated. Based on it, conditions are determined under which the solution to the knapsack problem includes the first Pareto layers. They are defined on a given set of initial data. The structure of the optimal subset is presented, which includes individual Pareto layers. Pareto layers are built in the introduced preference space. This does not require algorithms for enumerating the elements of the initial set. Such algorithms are used when finding only some part of the optimal subset. This reduces the number of operations required to solve the considered combinatorial problem. The method for determining the found Pareto layers shows that the number of operations depends on the volume of the knapsack and the structure of the Pareto layers, into which the set of initial data in the entered two-criteria space is divided.

When Deliberation Produces Persuasion rather than Polarization: Measuring and modeling Small Group Dynamics in a Field Experiment

This article proposes a new statistical method to measure persuasion within small groups, and applies this approach to a large-scale randomized deliberative experiment. The authors define the construct of ‘persuasion’ as a change in the systematic component of an individual's preference, separate from measurement error, that results from exposure to interpersonal interaction. Their method separately measures persuasion in a latent (left–right) preference space and in a topic-specific preference space. The model's functional form accommodates tests of substantive hypotheses found in the small-group literature. The article illustrates the measurement method by examining changes in study participants' views on US fiscal policy resulting from the composition of the small discussion groups to which they were randomly assigned. The results are inconsistent with the ‘law of small-group polarization’, the typical result found in small-group research; instead, the authors observe patterns of latent and policy-specific persuasion consistent with the aspirations of deliberation.

Exploring Possible Futures

This chapter discusses the nature of exploring possible futures, not in terms of case studies, but with a higher-level view of the overall process. Six themes—investments, stakeholders, change, decisions, design, and prediction—are reflected in most of the key points in this book. Clearly, exploring possible futures concerns investments in pursuing these futures involving multiple stakeholders and significant change. Models are employed to frame decisions, assess alternative designs, and make predictions about what might happen. Typical explorations involve planning new generations of existing product lines and new application domains for existing technology capabilities, assessing technology options for enabling new offerings, and addressing major enterprise challenges. Explorations should begin by focusing on desirability in terms of the “preference space” of major stakeholders. At the same time, avoid consideration of feasibility in the sense of what is achievable in the “physical space” of the domain of interest.

Factors of esthetic preference, space and forms

Why does the the man feel more comfortable in some surroundings than in some other and what is there in the surroundings and in a the man that causes that state of his spirit? It is obvious that one`s reactions to surroundings are reflexive and uncontrolled, yet they happen according to certain patterns. To adjust to his natural surroundings as much as he can, during evolution the the man developed mechanisms (intuitive reactions) that made it possible for him to react to the changes in his environment much faster and more effectively, which was of the key importance for survival. By developing intuitive reactions to surroundings, the the man acquired a special apparatus through which he sees much more in his surroundings than he is aware. Esthetic reactions and esthetic preferences make a part of that apparatus and they have an adaptive role. Thanks to rewarding certain behaviors with comfortable feelings, elements and physical characteristics (compositions, relationships) useful for survival that the man notices in his surrounding have become beautiful to him. Evolutionary psychology, psychology, esthetics and neuroesthetics all research why and how the the man reacts to certain physical characteristics of the surroundings. The goal of this research is to check if the the man notices elements and relations from natural surroundings in architectural space, since evolution ?taught? him that he needs them for survival. It also aims to check how the the man reacts to the preferred shapes, relations, and compositions from natural surroundings when they are found in architectural space and to check factors that influence esthetic preferences. Discoveries of esthetic reactions, esthetic preference and evolutionary base of those reactions can be applied in architecture in order to create space and shapes that are customized for the the man.