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. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
CITATION STYLE
Simkin, M. V., & Roychowdhury, V. P. (2012). Stochastic Modeling of Congress. Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 36(3), 183–190. https://doi.org/10.1080/0022250X.2011.629065
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