67,355 research outputs found
Introducing fuzzy trust for managing belief conflict over semantic web data
Interpreting Semantic Web Data by different human experts can end up in scenarios, where each expert comes up with different and conflicting ideas what a concept can mean and how they relate to other concepts. Software agents that operate on the Semantic Web have to deal with similar scenarios where the interpretation of Semantic Web data that describes the heterogeneous sources becomes contradicting. One such application area of the Semantic Web is ontology mapping where different similarities have to be combined into a more reliable and coherent view, which might easily become unreliable if the conflicting
beliefs in similarities are not managed effectively between the different agents. In this paper we propose a solution for managing this conflict by introducing trust between the mapping agents based on the fuzzy voting model
Vulnerability analysis of three remote voting methods
This article analyses three methods of remote voting in an uncontrolled
environment: postal voting, internet voting and hybrid voting. It breaks down
the voting process into different stages and compares their vulnerabilities
considering criteria that must be respected in any democratic vote:
confidentiality, anonymity, transparency, vote unicity and authenticity.
Whether for safety or reliability, each vulnerability is quantified by three
parameters: size, visibility and difficulty to achieve. The study concludes
that the automatisation of treatments combined with the dematerialisation of
the objects used during an election tends to substitute visible vulnerabilities
of a lesser magnitude by invisible and widespread vulnerabilities.Comment: 15 page
Analysis of the Correlation Between Majority Voting Error and the Diversity Measures in Multiple Classifier Systems
Combining classifiers by majority voting (MV) has
recently emerged as an effective way of improving
performance of individual classifiers. However, the
usefulness of applying MV is not always observed and
is subject to distribution of classification outputs in a
multiple classifier system (MCS). Evaluation of MV
errors (MVE) for all combinations of classifiers in MCS
is a complex process of exponential complexity.
Reduction of this complexity can be achieved provided
the explicit relationship between MVE and any other
less complex function operating on classifier outputs is
found. Diversity measures operating on binary
classification outputs (correct/incorrect) are studied in
this paper as potential candidates for such functions.
Their correlation with MVE, interpreted as the quality
of a measure, is thoroughly investigated using artificial
and real-world datasets. Moreover, we propose new
diversity measure efficiently exploiting information
coming from the whole MCS, rather than its part, for
which it is applied
The democratisation of party leadership selection: the Portuguese experience
In recent years, members of established political parties have received increased powers to select candidates and leaders. Several explanations have been advanced to account for this trend, focusing on the evolution of the political system, the characteristics of party systems or intra-party dynamics. The aim of this article is to examine the introduction of democratising reforms for leadership selection in Portuguese parties. Despite the high degree of centralisation and the low levels of internal participation, all governing parties have expanded membersâ rights during the last decade. The main findings suggest that party leaders have decided to change methods for leadership selection mainly for instrumental purposes in order to consolidate their internal power or gain electoral benefits. Moreover, this organisational transformation has had reduced effects on the internal party functioning. Regardless of these similarities, the data show that there are important differences between parties with regard to levels of participation and internal competition
The Problem of Low and Unequal Voter Turnout - and What We Can Do About It. IHS Political Science Series No. 54, February 1998
Low voter turnout has become a serious problem in most democracies, not only in the United States but also in many West European countries â and even in a traditionally high-turnout country like Austria where turnout has also been declining in recent years. There are five reasons why we should be concerned about this problem: 1. Low turnout means low participation by less privileged citizens, who are already at a disadvantage in terms of other forms of political participation. 2. Unequal participation means unequal influence. 3. Actual turnout tends to be lower than the official turnout figures suggest. 4. Turnout in elections other than those at the national level tends to be particularly low. 5. Turnout is declining in most countries. The problem of low and unequal turnout can be solved by a number of institutional mechanisms such as proportional representation, concurrent and infrequent elections, weekend instead of weekday voting, and compulsory voting. The last of these â mandatory voting â is especially strong and effective, and also morally justified
U.S. Election Assistance Commission Urban-Rural Study: Final Report
In May, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission released a report comparing election administration in urban and rural jurisdictions. The survey uncovered more similarities than differences, in part because many small, urban jurisdictions have more in common with rural offices than with very large metropolitan ones. The size of the registered voter population seemed to influence administration more than did the degree of urbanization.The report was based on a national survey of local election administrators that focused on voter-outreach efforts and office personnel -- topics identified by a working group of election officials and researchers as likely to vary based on a jurisdiction's urbanization
- âŠ