Midterm Elections Cascade
https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/11/216630/women-run-for-office-after-midterms-2018
It goes without saying that we’re currently experiencing a very unique political time. During such a time, we have seen many changes within our nation. Many conclude that changes in individual behavior and government participation are a result of events we are witnessing within the current administration. More specifically, the recent midterm elections saw a surge of women running for office – and winning. The attached article describes how the midterm elections was historical for women including Muslim women, young women, etc.
Writer Torey Van Oot explores how these midterm election wins may continue far beyond this election cycle. Van Oot also discusses Emily’s List, a pro-choice Democratic political action committee saw an increase in women demonstrating enthusiasm and voicing future campaign hopes. I think this closely relates to our Networks course, especially information cascades. Specifically within a problem set, we reviewed a scenario where invitations to a planned event was shared so that each invitee was able to see the full list of people who have been invited, their acceptances, as well as any declines and pending decisions. The textbook also describes an information cascade as one that has the potential to form when people make decisions sequentially.
If we compare these ideas to the attached article, we can see some similarities between them where individuals are obtaining information about politics, civic duties, government action, the current administration’s policies, etc. In other words, the information earlier people have, in this case concerning the value behind making political contributions and taking a stand for causes one truly believes in, may lead to sequential decision making on the part of other individuals.
The article goes on to say, “I think we will see a historic number of women come out of this election cycle and put their names in the hat. It’s not going to come without work and it’s not [going to happen] without institutional players stepping up and doing something too.” I believe this statement demonstrates exactly how more women participating in office is causing many other women to learn about and aspire to similar action – just like the information cascades we’ve gone over in class as a result of drawing rational inferences with information from news, media, etc.