Stochastic Modeling of Congress |
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| Authors: | MIKHAIL V. SIMKIN |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Electrical Engineering , University of California, Los Angeles , Los Angeles, California , USA simkin@ee.ucla.edu |
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| Abstract: | We analyze the dynamics of growth of the number of congressmen supporting the resolution HR1207 to audit the Federal Reserve. The plot of the total number of cosponsors as a function of time is of the “Devil's staircase” type. The distribution of the numbers of new cosponsors joining during a particular day (step height) follows a power law. The distribution of the length of intervals between additions of new cosponsors (step length) also follows a power law. We use a modification of Bak-Tang-Wiesenfeld sandpile model to simulate the dynamics of Congress and obtain good agreement with the data. |
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| Keywords: | collective dynamics mathematical modeling social influence |
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