Mathematics & Political Coalitions
There is more to the House of Representatives than partisanship alone. In this episode hear about how mathematics has identified hidden coalitions in the House.
Show Notes
We in the United States are deep in the middle of a major national election, and over half of the world’s population also have elections in 2024. This is why Carry the Two is going to focus on the intersection of mathematics and democracy for our new season.
In this, the third episode of our mathematics and democracy season, we speak to Andrea Mock, Gunnar Carlsson, Samin Aref, and Zachary Neal. We dig into what mathematics has to say about the stability of political coalitions, how mediators can make coalitions more stable, the ways in which Democrats and Republicans can be clustered together in the House of Representatives based on their votes, and the hidden third coalition of really successful legislators in the House that co-sponsorship data can illuminate.
Find our transcript here: Google Doc or .txt file
Curious to learn more? Check out these additional links:
Political structures and the topology of simplicial complexes
Andrea Mock & Ismar Volić
The topology of politics: voting connectivity in the US House of Representatives
Pek Yee Lum, Alan Lehmann, Gurjeet Singh, Tigran Ishkhanov, Gunnar Carlsson, & Mikael Vejdemo-Johansson
Samin Aref & Zachary Neal
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Music by Blue Dot Sessions
The Institute for Mathematical and Statistical Innovation (IMSI) is funded by NSF grant DMS-1929348