Updating on the Credences of Others: Disagreement, Agreement, and Synergy

We introduce a family of rules for adjusting one’s credences in response to learning the credences of others. These rules have a number of desirable features. 1. They yield the posterior credences that would result from updating by standard Bayesian conditionalization on one’s peers’ reported credences if one’s likelihood function takes a particular simple form. 2. In the simplest form, they are symmetric among the agents in the group. 3. They map neatly onto the familiar Condorcet voting results. 4. They preserve shared agreement about independence in a wide range of cases. 5. They commute with conditionalization and with multiple peer updates. Importantly, these rules have a surprising property that we call synergy — peer testimony of credences can provide mutually supporting evidence raising an individual’s credence higher than any peer’s initial prior report. At first, this may seem to be a strike against them. We argue, however, that synergy is actually a desirable feature and the failure of other updating rules to yield synergy is a strike against them.

Mixed-Member Electoral Systems in Constitutional Context : Taiwan, Japan, and Beyond /

After the electoral reform in 1994, Japan saw a gradual evolution from a multi-party system toward a two-party system over the course of five House of Representatives election cycles. In contrast, after Taiwan’s constitutional amendment in 2005, a two-party system emerged in the first post-reform legislative election in 2008. Critically, however, Taiwan’s president is directly elected while Japan’s prime minister is indirectly elected. The contributors conclude that the higher the payoffs of holding the executive office and the greater degree of cross-district coordination required to win it, the stronger the incentives for elites to form and stay in the major parties. In such a context, a country will move rapidly toward a two-party system. In Part II, the contributors apply this theoretical logic to other countries with mixed-member systems to demonstrate its generality. They find the effect of executive competition on legislative electoral rules in countries as disparate as Thailand, the Philippines, New Zealand, Bolivia, and Russia. The findings presented in this book have important implications for political reform. Often, reformers are motivated by high hopes of solving some political problems and enhancing the quality of democracy. But, as this group of scholars demonstrates, electoral reform alone is not a panacea. Whether and to what extent it achieves the advocated goals depends not only on the specification of new electoral rules per se but also on the political context—and especially the constitutional framework—within which such rules are embedded.

2007 application guidelines : Community Development Assistance Program : economic development.

The following activities are considered ineligible. 1. Construction of buildings, or portions thereof, used predominantly for general conduct of government (e.g. city halls, courthouses, jails, police stations, etc.) 2. General government expenses. 3. Costs of operating and maintaining public facilities and services (e.g. mowing parks and replacing street light bulbs). 4. Servicing or refinancing existing debt.

2008 application guidelines : Community Development Assistance Program : economic development.

The following activities are considered ineligible. 1. Construction of buildings, or portions thereof, used predominantly for general conduct of government (e.g. city halls, courthouses, jails, police stations, etc.) 2. General government expenses. 3. Costs of operating and maintaining public facilities and services (e.g. mowing parks and replacing street light bulbs). 4. Servicing or refinancing existing debt.

Counting and tallying of ballots, with illustrations and explanations.

Description based on: 1948.

Deputy registrar guidelines /

Describes the eligibility, terms of appointment, duties and responsibilities of deputy registrars appointed to accept voter registration in Illinois.

Deputy registrar guidelines /

Describes eligibility requirements and terms of appointment of deputy registrars as well as their duties and responsibilities. Also includes general information about the training of deputy registrars and proper completion of voter registration forms.

Deputy registrar guidelines /

Describes the eligibility, terms of appointment, duties and responsibilities of deputy registrars appointed to accept voter registration in Illinois.

Election program.

Official ballot inserted.

Illinois off-year primary election voter turnout /

Title page preceded by Understanding Illinois off-year primary elections, (4 p.), a non-technical summary of the research.

Machine manual of instructions for judges of election : the general election--November 4, 1980.

Cover title.

Military and overseas voter guidelines /

Provides information for citizens who live overseas or are serving in the U.S. Armed Forces and will not be in their home county on Election Day.

Optical scan manual of instructions for Illinois election judges.

" ... may be duplicated or sections may be rewritten to conform to local specifications. Any modified manual must be consistent with the Illinois Election Code and submitted to the State Board of Elections for approval prior to distribution."

Optical scan manual of instructions for Illinois election judges.

"...may be duplicated or sections may be rewritten to conform to local specifications. Any modified manual must be consistent with the Illinois Election Code and submitted to the State Board of Elections for approval prior to distribution."

Paper ballot manual of instructions for Illinois election judges in the general primary election of ...

Pertains to paper ballot voting only.