Competition between Specialized Candidates

We develop a formal model in which the government provides public goods in different policy fields for its citizens. We start from the basic premise that two office-motivated candidates have differential capabilities in different policy fields, and compete by proposing how to allocate government resources to those fields.The model has a unique equilibrium that differs substantially from the standard median-voter model. While candidates compete for the support of a moderate voter type, this cutoff voter differs from the expected median voter. Moreover, no voter type except the cutoff voter is indifferent between the candidates in equilibrium. The model also predicts that candidates respond to changes in the preferences of voters in a very rigid way. We also analyze under which conditions candidates choose to strengthen the issue in which they have a competence advantage, and when they rather compensate for their weakness.issue ownership, differentiated candidates, policy divergence

Elites or Masses? A Structural Model of Policy Divergence, Voter Sorting and Apparent Polarization in U.S. Presidential Elections, 1972-2008

One of the most widely discussed phenomena in American politics today is the perceived increasing partisan divide that splits the U.S. electorate. A central contested question is whether this diagnosis is actually true, and if so, what is the underlying cause. We develop a model that relates the parties’ positions on economic and “cultural” issues, the voters’ ideal positions and the electorate’s voting behavior, and apply the model to U.S. presidential elections between 1972 and 2008. The model allows us to recover candidates’ positions from voter behavior; to decompose changes in the overall political polarization of the electorate into changes in the distribution of voter ideal positions and consequences of elite polarization; and to determine the characteristics of voters who changed their party allegiance.polarization, differentiated candidates, policy divergence, ideology, voter migration

Majority-efficiency and Competition-efficiency in a Binary Policy Model

We introduce a general framework in which politicians choose a (possibly infinite) sequence of binary policies. The two competing candidates are exogenously committed to particular actions on a subset of these issues, while they can choose any policy for the remaining issues to maximize their winning probability. Citizens have general preferences over policies, and the distribution of preferences may be uncertain. We show that a special case of the model, the weighted-issue model, provides a tractable multidimensional model of candidate competition that can generate (i) policy divergence in pure and mixed strategies, (ii) adoption of minority positions, and (iii) inefficient outcomes.multidimensional policy, voting, citizen-candidate, normative analysis of political competition

Social Ideology and Taxes in a Differentiated Candidates Framework

How does ideological polarization on non-economic matters influence the size of government? We analyze this question using a differentiated candidates framework: Two office-motivated candidates differ in their (fixed) ideological position and their production function for public goods, and choose which tax rate to propose. We provide conditions under which a unique equilibrium exists. In equilibrium, candidates propose different tax rates, and the extent of economic differentiation is influenced by the distribution and intensity of non-economic preferences in the electorate. In turn, the extent of economic differentiation influences whether parties divide the electorate primarily along economic or social lines.differentiated candidates, policy divergence, ideology

Political Polarization and the Electoral Effects of Media Bias

Many political commentators diagnose an increasing polarization of the U.S. electorate into two opposing camps. However, in standard spatial voting models, changes in the political preference distribution are irrelevant as long as the position of the median voter does not change. We show that media bias provides a mechanism through which political polarization can affect electoral outcomes.In our model, media firms’ profits depend on their audience rating. Maximizing profits may involve catering to a partisan audience by slanting the news. While voters are rational, understand the nature of the news suppression bias and update appropriately, important information is lost through bias, potentially resulting in inefficient electoral outcomes. We show that polarization increases the profitability of slanting news, thereby raising the likelihood of electoral mistakes. We also show that, if media are biased, then there are some news realizations such that the electorate appears more polarized to an outside observer, even if citizens’ policy preferences do not change.media bias, polarization, information aggregation, democracy

Using Music to Show Personal Change Over Time

Despite the increased popularity and ease of listening to music, with Spotify boasting over 300 million active users and growing, very little research has been done on analysing listener data and habits. While some services display data like top artists and listeners from Spotify, there is still much more that can be done. I want to help Spotify users look at how their listening preferences have changed over time to better establish a connection between listening habits and different life circumstances. To do so, I will be looking at the top tracks over three different time periods in the user’s life and using those to get a sense of the average mood of the music they listened to during that period. I will be displaying this data to the user as a gradient, with colors assigned to the moods of each period, to provide a fun and informative infographic to the user. I hope to find that changes in the mood of the music one listened to over time will reflect changes in their life, establishing a correlation between listener habits and reality and generating more interest in the field

Argon Test Cell Coaxial Cable Feed Through Connector Testing

Within each cryostat their will exist three Argon Monitoring Boxes. Located at different elevations these boxes are responsible for measuring the relative 'quality' of the Argon as far as it's ability to transfer electrons without recombination. Each box requires three miniature coaxial cables to provide a signal to the outside world. These cables are shielded in groups of three. Each cryostat requires three of these grouped cables which must pass through some form of feedthrough located in the Instrumentation Box. For reasons of minimizing crosstalk and signal loss it is best to provide uninterrupted coaxial service between the receiving device and the monitor boxes. In an attempt to provide such service Jerry Blazey obtained a connector whose manufacturer promised would provide uninterupted coaxial service. Results of cold shock and leakage tests preformed on this feedthrough comprise the remainder of this note. Under normal operating conditions this feed through would never reach temperatures as low as those used for these cold shock tests

Judicial Notice of Foreign Law

A fundamental cleavage exists between the two methods of viewing judicial notice. Both views must be understood before the doctrine of judicial notice can be said to have a real meaning applicable to the whole variety of legal problems which arise today. This understanding must be achieved before many of the seeming inconsistencies in what has been written about the doctrine can be clarified. Finally, this basic understanding must be had if any comprehension of the operation of judicial notice in any specific field of law is possible

Nuclear Fusion Effects Induced in Intense Laser-Generated Plasmas

Deutered polyethylene (CD2)n thin and thick targets were irradiated in high vacuum by infrared laser pulses at 1015W/cm2 intensity. The high laser energy transferred to the polymer generates plasma, expanding in vacuum at supersonic velocity, accelerating hydrogen and carbon ions. Deuterium ions at kinetic energies above 4 MeV have been measured by using ion collectors and SiC detectors in time-of-flight configuration. At these energies the deuterium–deuterium collisions may induce over threshold fusion effects, in agreement with the high D-D cross-section valuesaround 3 MeV energy. At the first instants of the plasma generation, during which high temperature, density and ionacceleration occur, the D-D fusions occur as confirmed by the detection of mono-energetic protonsand neutrons with a kinetic energy of 3.0 MeV and 2.5 MeV, respectively, produced by the nuclear reaction. The number of fusion events depends strongly on the experimental set-up, i.e. on the laser parameters (intensity, wavelength, focal spot dimension), target conditions (thickness, chemical composition, absorption coefficient, presence of secondary targets) and used geometry (incidence angle, laser spot, secondary target positions).A number of D-D fusion events of the order of 106÷7 per laser shot has been measured

Nuclear Fusion Effects Induced in Intense Laser-Generated Plasmas

Deutered polyethylene (CD2)n thin and thick targets were irradiated in high vacuum by infrared laser pulses at 1015W/cm2 intensity. The high laser energy transferred to the polymer generates plasma, expanding in vacuum at supersonic velocity, accelerating hydrogen and carbon ions. Deuterium ions at kinetic energies above 4 MeV have been measured by using ion collectors and SiC detectors in time-of-flight configuration. At these energies the deuterium–deuterium collisions may induce over threshold fusion effects, in agreement with the high D-D cross-section valuesaround 3 MeV energy. At the first instants of the plasma generation, during which high temperature, density and ionacceleration occur, the D-D fusions occur as confirmed by the detection of mono-energetic protonsand neutrons with a kinetic energy of 3.0 MeV and 2.5 MeV, respectively, produced by the nuclear reaction. The number of fusion events depends strongly on the experimental set-up, i.e. on the laser parameters (intensity, wavelength, focal spot dimension), target conditions (thickness, chemical composition, absorption coefficient, presence of secondary targets) and used geometry (incidence angle, laser spot, secondary target positions).A number of D-D fusion events of the order of 106÷7 per laser shot has been measured