47,552 research outputs found
On The Structure of Competitive Societies
We model the dynamics of social structure by a simple interacting particle
system. The social standing of an individual agent is represented by an
integer-valued fitness that changes via two offsetting processes. When two
agents interact one advances: the fitter with probability p and the less fit
with probability 1-p. The fitness of an agent may also decline with rate r.
From a scaling analysis of the underlying master equations for the fitness
distribution of the population, we find four distinct social structures as a
function of the governing parameters p and r. These include: (i) a static
lower-class society where all agents have finite fitness; (ii) an
upwardly-mobile middle-class society; (iii) a hierarchical society where a
finite fraction of the population belongs to a middle class and a complementary
fraction to the lower class; (iv) an egalitarian society where all agents are
upwardly mobile and have nearly the same fitness. We determine the basic
features of the fitness distributions in these four phases.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure
How groups can foster consensus: The case of local cultures
A local culture denotes a commonly shared behaviour within a cluster of
firms. Similar to social norms or conventions, it is an emergent feature
resulting from the firms' interaction in an economic network. To model these
dynamics, we consider a distributed agent population, representing e.g. firms
or individuals. Further, we build on a continuous opinion dynamics model with
bounded confidence (), which assumes that two agents only interact if
differences in their behaviour are less than . Interaction results in
more similarity of behaviour, i.e. convergence towards a common mean. This
framework is extended by two major concepts: (i) The agent's in-group
consisting of acquainted interaction partners is explicitly taken into account.
This leads to an effective agent behaviour reflecting that agents try to
continue to interact with past partners and thus to keep sufficiently close to
them. (ii) The in-group network structure changes over time, as agents can form
new links to other agents with sufficiently close effective behaviour or delete
links to agents no longer close in behaviour. Thus, our model provides a
feedback mechanism between the agents' behaviour and their in-group structure.
Studying its consequences by means of agent-based computer simulations, we find
that for narrow-minded agents (low ) the additional feedback helps to
find consensus more often, whereas for open-minded agents (high )
this does not hold. This counterintuitive result is explained by simulations of
the network evolution
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The promise and peril of paralegal aid
Strengthening the rule of law and promoting access to justice in developing countries have been longstanding international policy objectives. However, the standard policy tools, such as technical assistance and material aid, are routinely criticized for failing to achieve their objectives. The rare exception is paralegal aid, which is almost universally lauded by policymakers and scholars as effective in promoting the rule of law and access to justice. This belief, however, rests on a very limited empirical foundation regarding what paralegal programs accomplish and under what theory they operate. This paper critically examines the conventional wisdom surrounding paralegal initiatives through case studies of two successful paralegal programs in post-conflict Timor-Leste that are broadly representative of the type of initiatives commonly implemented in developing countries. These programs did improve access to justice services, bolster choice between dispute resolution forums, and increase local knowledge of progressive norms on human rights and women’s rights. Yet, as this article shows, even successful programs can expect to achieve only incremental gains in promoting the rule of law because advances largely depend on alignment with the priorities of powerful state and non-state actors, donors, program implementers, and paralegals themselves. To date, the literature has not acknowledged these limitations. This article addresses this gap by demonstrating that paralegal aid faces multiple challenges that mean paralegals cannot necessarily transcend or modify deep seated norms and power structures. These issues include principal agent-problems due to the extensive delegation required, internal limitations resulting from paralegals’ limited authority and independence, and external constraints from state and non-state justice actors. Paralegal programs also face program design, implementation, and sustainability challenges. Consequently, scholars, practitioners, and policymakers need to adopt a more balanced view of paralegal aid
The Logic of the Method of Agent-Based Simulation in the Social Sciences: Empirical and Intentional Adequacy of Computer Programs
The classical theory of computation does not represent an adequate model of reality for simulation in the social sciences. The aim of this paper is to construct a methodological perspective that is able to conciliate the formal and empirical logic of program verification in computer science, with the interpretative and multiparadigmatic logic of the social sciences. We attempt to evaluate whether social simulation implies an additional perspective about the way one can understand the concepts of program and computation. We demonstrate that the logic of social simulation implies at least two distinct types of program verifications that reflect an epistemological distinction in the kind of knowledge one can have about programs. Computer programs seem to possess a causal capability (Fetzer, 1999) and an intentional capability that scientific theories seem not to possess. This distinction is associated with two types of program verification, which we call empirical and intentional verification. We demonstrate, by this means, that computational phenomena are also intentional phenomena, and that such is particularly manifest in agent-based social simulation. Ascertaining the credibility of results in social simulation requires a focus on the identification of a new category of knowledge we can have about computer programs. This knowledge should be considered an outcome of an experimental exercise, albeit not empirical, acquired within a context of limited consensus. The perspective of intentional computation seems to be the only one possible to reflect the multiparadigmatic character of social science in terms of agent-based computational social science. We contribute, additionally, to the clarification of several questions that are found in the methodological perspectives of the discipline, such as the computational nature, the logic of program scalability, and the multiparadigmatic character of agent-based simulation in the social sciences.Computer and Social Sciences, Agent-Based Simulation, Intentional Computation, Program Verification, Intentional Verification, Scientific Knowledge
Should socioeconomic factors be considered as traditional risk factors for cardiovascular disease, as confounders, or as risk modifiers?
A large number of studies show
that cardiovascular disease and its
traditional risk factors are associated
with socioeconomic conditions.
However, their etiological role in
the development of cardiovascular
outcomes is not always well understood.
In particular, it is unclear
whether socioeconomic factors
should be considered as traditional
risk factors for CVD, as confounders,
or as risk modifiers. In
this article, after examining whether
socioeconomic conditions meet the
criteria for the three definitions,
we argue that none of them fully
captures the complexity of their contribution
in shaping the epidemic
of heart disease across and within
societies. We argue instead that socioeconomic
factors are the “causes
of the causes” of heart disease.
Implications for research and interventions
to reduce heart disease
are discussed
Changing international health policy and changing international development goals
The World Health Organisation (WHO) was founded in 1948 with a remit to promote public health around the world. The WHO’s constitution sets out its objective as ‘the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health’ (WHO, 1948). The paper raises broad questions over the aspirations and practice of international health policy in its international political and development context. The paper explores how international health policy has been informed by evolving international development strategies, from the earlier modernisation approaches to the sustainable development approaches of recent decades. The final part considers international health policy today in a world of continuing international inequalities
A General Theory of Complex Living Systems: Exploring the Demand Side of Dynamics
complex living systems, unified theory, dynamics, general theory, demand-side, methodology
Constructing a General Theory of Life: The Dynamics of Human and Non-human Systems
The ultimate objective of theorists studying living systems is to construct a general theory of life that can explain and predict the dynamics of both human and nonhuman systems. Yet little progress has been made in this endeavour. Why? Because of the inappropriate methods adopted by complexity theorists. By assuming that the supply-side physics model – in which local interactions are said to give rise to the emergence of order and complexity – could be transferred either entirely (social physics) or partially (agent-based models, or ABMs) from the physical to the life sciences, we have distorted reality and, thereby, delayed the construction of a general dynamic theory of living systems. Is there a solution? Yes, but only if we abandon the deductive and analogical methods of complexity theorists and adopt the inductive method. With this approach it is possible to construct a realist and demand-side general dynamic theory, as in the case of the dynamic-strategy theory presented in this paper.complex living systems, unified theory, general theory of life, dynamics. Demand-side, methodology
Donation without Domination: Private Charity and Republican Liberty
Contemporary republicans have adopted a less-than-charitable attitude toward private beneficence, especially when it is directed to the poor, worrying that rich patrons may be in a position to exercise arbitrary power over their impoverished clients. These concerns have led them to support impartial public provision by way of state welfare programs, including an unconditional basic income (UBI). In contrast to this administrative model of public welfare, I will propose a competitive model in which the state regulates and subsidizes a decentralized and nonstatist provision of support for the poor. This model will fix the historically objectionable features of private provision by having the state prevent collusion among private charities, deliver information to recipients about alternative sources of assistance, and give substantial grants to charities as well as tax incentives and vouchers to donors. I will contend that such an approach would do a better job of minimizing domination of the poor than traditional welfare states and may prove more politically feasible than a UBI, at least in the near term in certain national contexts
A bully in the playground : examining the role of neoliberal economic globalisation in children’s struggle to become ‘fully human’
This article begins by exploring the Western historical progression of the conceptual place of children along a Property-Welfare-Rights continuum. It applies Baxi’s “logics of exclusion and inclusion” to the complex dynamic of children’s advancement in becoming ‘fully human’ through their achievement of internationally recognised human rights. It critically considers the comprehensive vulnerability of children based both on their evolving levels of development and on the multifaceted challenges of the application and enforcement of their rights. The ideological and practical realities influencing this evolution exist in an increasingly globalised world in which international economic dynamics play a particularly influential role. The character and substance of these are explored. This follows with an examination of the influence of these dynamics on both the environment in which the struggle for children’s rights to be recognised takes place, and on the ideological concepts of these rights themselves. It is proposed that the dominant form of globalisation, NEG, perpetuates ideological exclusionary criteria which thwart children’s achievement of becoming “fully human”. This is most evident in the neoliberal views on the paramount importance of the individual, and on the limited role for the state. It is the NEG perception of the child, in locating her/him within an individualistic framework and dismissing the wider societal context, which justifies at best a welfare-entitlement agenda and denies children rights. Further, this results in a justification of the effects of poverty, in particular for children of the South. This exclusion of children from bearing rights is achieved globally through NEG systems and processes which handicap the autonomy of states. The NEG maintains this exclusion of children through its deemed legitimate and commonsensical hegemony. Through these mechanisms, NEG bullies states into advancing a new form of colonialism that discriminates against children. The related way in which human rights discourse has itself been influenced by NEG ideology is also explored. The article concludes with the proposal that the effective recognition of children’s rights necessitates an understanding of the exclusionary criteria imposed by NEG. A fundamental modification of the terms and mechanisms within which NEG functions is essential to compensate for children’s unique and disproportionate vulnerabilities
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