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1

Opinion formation in social networks

100%

TAALAIBEKOVA A.

Operations Research and Decisions

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2018

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vol. 28

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issue 2

85-108

EN

A number of selected works on the dynamics of opinions and beliefs in social networks has been discussed. Both Bayesian and non-Bayesian approaches to social learning have been considered, but the analysis has been focused on a simple, tractable and widely used model of updating beliefs – the DeGroot model. The author studied the dynamics of opinions based on the DeGroot model from dif-ferent points of view. First, its attractive features and shortcomings were discussed and then some of its extensions have been presented. These models are based on the DeGroot updating rule, but addition-ally incorporate the possibility of improvements and enrichments of the framework.

2

Determining models of influence

88%

GRABISCH M., RUSINOWSKA A.

Operations Research and Decisions

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2016

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vol. 26

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issue 2

69-85

EN

We consider a model of opinion formation based on aggregation functions. Each player modifies his opinion by arbitrarily aggregating the current opinion of all players. A player is influential on another player if the opinion of the first one matters to the latter. Generalization of an influential player to a coalition whose opinion matters to a player is called an influential coalition. Influential players (coalitions) can be graphically represented by the graph (hypergraph) of influence, and convergence analysis is based on properties of the hypergraphs of influence. In the paper, we focus on the practical issues of applicability of the model w.r.t. a standard framework for opinion formation driven by Markov chain theory. For a qualitative analysis of convergence, knowing the aggregation functions of the players is not required, one only needs to know the set of influential coalitions for each player. We propose simple algorithms that permit us to fully determine the influential coalitions. We distinguish three cases: a symmetric decomposable model, an anonymous model, and a general model.

3

Transformations of democracy and the problem of wealth: some remarks on oligarchy and the Czech case

75%

Lánský O.

Filosofický časopis (Philosophical Journal)

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2024

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vol. 72

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issue Special_issue_1

101-123

EN

There are many signs that our democracies are undergoing a transformation: populism, an erosion of civic participation in political parties, to replace citizens’ decision- making with expert knowledge, and the growing power of super-wealthy people. Urbinati grasps these problems in terms of three phenomena: technocratic depoliticisation, populism, and plebiscitarianism. This article argues that the central issue in contemporary democracies is wealth and inequality, and that is why we need a fully developed concept of oligarchy. Although Urbinati tries to take oligarchy into account, she does so mainly in relation to media ownership. This article considers oligarchy as a phenomenon typical for the contemporary era, and analyses it in the context of the development of Czech society during the last decade. The article adapts Jeffrey A. Winters’ oligarchy theory to the Czech context, effectively connecting political and societal spheres. Finally, the article suggests that only a re-conceptualised theory of democracy enriched by the theory of oligarchy can provide an effective starting point for addressing the pitfalls of the transformations of democracy.

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2 Operations Research and Decisions

1 Filosofický časopis (Philosophical Journal)

1 GRABISCH M.

1 Lánský O.

1 RUSINOWSKA A.

1 TAALAIBEKOVA A.

1 2024

1 2018

1 2016

Opinion formation in social networks

Determining models of influence

Transformations of democracy and the problem of wealth: some remarks on oligarchy and the Czech case