January Blog Challenge Results: O.R. and Politics

The January blog challenge of O.R. and Politics provided many scenarios of how operations research can improve the political process (or not.) One of the common threads was the ability of O.R. to provide transparency and logical solutions in situations commonly dominated by politicians whose main motivation is to stay in office. But therein may lie the crux of the struggle -- how much does logic figure in the political process? To borrow from Anna Nagurney’s post, one of the definitions of politics is “the total complex of relations between people living in a society.” Can that “complex of relations” tolerate both logic and the sometimes illogical feelings of the people? O.R.’s highest purpose, while not intentionally excluding the benefit of individuals, is to improve the greater good of society. However, when heartfelt anecdotes about individuals are highlighted by the media, they often become a rallying point for politicians running for reelection and can evoke a response from constituents that demand reason and logic be thrown out the door. Let’s face it, everyone isn’t as passionate about O.R. as our blog challenge participants. Take a look below at their takes on O.R. and Politics.

And speaking of passion… February’s Blog Challenge is O.R. and Love.
E-mail your entries to graphics@mail.informs.org.

Role of O.R. and response planning

• Disaster Politics and Operations Research, Anna Nagurney
• Snow removal using a shovel, a plow, and operatations research, Laura McLay

O.R. and political districting

• Optimizing the House of Representatives, Robert Randall
• Operations Research and gerrymandering, Larry D'Agostino
• Political Districting and OR, Tallys Yunes

O.R. and advising politicians

• Does Prime Minister Rutte require an OR/MS counsellor?, John Poppelaars
• OR or CYA, Paul Rubin
• How’s VAT?, Capgemini O.R. Blog Team
• State of the Union, Ian Frommer

O.R. and the voting process

• And the Chancellor is…, Francisco Marco-Serrano
• How Operations Research Helps Me Understand Politics and Voting, Michael Trick

O.R. and urban development

• Politics in a developing country, David Smith
• Optimizing Public Policies for Urban Planning, Thiago Serra

Politics and Honesty

• The honest politician and other rare events, Shiva Subramanian
• The Diogenes Problem, Paul Rubin, who has earned bonus points in the blog challenge for posting twice!