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Show HN: Voting Relationships in the US Senate

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Re: Show HN: Voting Relationships in the US Senate

#41

Post by dnautics »

1) How are abstentions counted? Does a senator that abstains more get pushed out towards the edge for having less connections in general?

2) Is this correct: If a party member votes 100% along the party line, then they will be towards the center of the blob. If a party member is less partisan in the fashion of voting WITH bipartisan consensus (e.g. voting for hugely consensus PATRIOT act) then that person is gets put in the center. If a party member is less partisan in the fashion of voting AGAINST bipartisan consensus (e.g. voting against hugely consensus PATRIOT act) then they would be on the edge far from the center.

Re: Show HN: Voting Relationships in the US Senate

#42

Post by [deleted] »

tdfx wrote: post #13
ebilgenius wrote: post #9

I think it's fascinating watching how the parties have split up more over the years.

It looks like the Democrats are coming together on their votes, and Republicans differences are widening. It does make sense, as the fiscal conservatives and social conservatives really are different breeds.

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: Voting Relationships in the US Senate

#44

Post by anigbrowl »

Wingman4l7 wrote: post #34
sciguy77 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their suits could have logos on them, sort of like boxers' robes.

People have made the "NASCAR jumpsuit covered with logos from donators" suggestion/joke for years . There was even a White House Petition for it: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/20/white-house-petitio...

Yes, it's getting kind of old and is unworthy of this discussion.

Re: Show HN: Voting Relationships in the US Senate

#46

Post by Tloewald »

DavidChouinard wrote: post #19
pfraze wrote: post #3

There's probably some cool insights in here, but I'll need some help understanding it. For instance, what does an edge in the graph represent? What can I tell from the boldness of the line? @DavidChoinard can you give us a key?

The thickness of edges represents the number of times the pair of senators voted the same in the Senate (only edges above a threshold are shown). The two tightly coiled clusters shows just how weak the relationships are between the two parties. The closer the nodes are to the center, the more bipartisan those Senators are. In the current Congress, Sens. Murkowski and Collins really stand out as by far the most bipart…

I think your explanation of recent partisanship is perhaps not quite specific enough. I suspect the cause is the increasing reliance on threats of filibuster which make the stakes much higher for "crossing the floor".

Re: Show HN: Voting Relationships in the US Senate

#47

Post by bkamapantula »

DavidChouinard wrote: post #19
pfraze wrote: post #3

There's probably some cool insights in here, but I'll need some help understanding it. For instance, what does an edge in the graph represent? What can I tell from the boldness of the line? @DavidChoinard can you give us a key?

The thickness of edges represents the number of times the pair of senators voted the same in the Senate (only edges above a threshold are shown). The two tightly coiled clusters shows just how weak the relationships are between the two parties. The closer the nodes are to the center, the more bipartisan those Senators are. In the current Congress, Sens. Murkowski and Collins really stand out as by far the most bipart…

Please describe the visualization (relationships you mentioned, how the nodes are colored) in the webpage. It is hard to understand what's going on there.

It would be great if you can make the data public, if possible. You could probably analyze each senator across the years.

Re: Show HN: Voting Relationships in the US Senate

#48

Post by lmg643 »

DavidChouinard wrote: post #19
pfraze wrote: post #3

There's probably some cool insights in here, but I'll need some help understanding it. For instance, what does an edge in the graph represent? What can I tell from the boldness of the line? @DavidChoinard can you give us a key?

The thickness of edges represents the number of times the pair of senators voted the same in the Senate (only edges above a threshold are shown). The two tightly coiled clusters shows just how weak the relationships are between the two parties. The closer the nodes are to the center, the more bipartisan those Senators are. In the current Congress, Sens. Murkowski and Collins really stand out as by far the most bipart…

as someone who is generally familiar with key political figures, i'd say this graph is awesome. it immediately quantifies information that you otherwise would guess at based on what people say about them. the time series is also telling.

Re: Show HN: Voting Relationships in the US Senate

#49

Post by pnathan »

DavidChouinard wrote: post #19
pfraze wrote: post #3

There's probably some cool insights in here, but I'll need some help understanding it. For instance, what does an edge in the graph represent? What can I tell from the boldness of the line? @DavidChoinard can you give us a key?

The thickness of edges represents the number of times the pair of senators voted the same in the Senate (only edges above a threshold are shown). The two tightly coiled clusters shows just how weak the relationships are between the two parties. The closer the nodes are to the center, the more bipartisan those Senators are. In the current Congress, Sens. Murkowski and Collins really stand out as by far the most bipart…

David,

This may be asking for a bit much, but would you kindly put together a series of snapshots for a long time, spaced every 2 years? I would be willing to help out in building the automation and so forth if it's a big task.

Re: Show HN: Voting Relationships in the US Senate

#50

Post by Wingman4l7 »

anigbrowl wrote: post #44
Wingman4l7 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People have made the "NASCAR jumpsuit covered with logos from donators" suggestion/joke for years . There was even a White House Petition for it: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/20/white-house-petitio...

Yes, it's getting kind of old and is unworthy of this discussion.

Just because it's an old idea doesn't mean it's not a good one.
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