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23 - The Rise and the Demise of the Iowa Caucus

from Part V - Is This Heaven? No, It’s Iowa!

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2021

Edward A. Wasserman
Affiliation:
University of Iowa
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Summary

The origins of even familiar objects are frequently mired in mystery. The violin is one such example. Nevertheless, we have recently learned much more about the evolution of the violin over time – specifically, its overall shape and the length of its twin sound-holes. The research yielding this increased understanding focused on the makers of the violin, its so-called luthiers, thus putting behavior prominently into the spotlight. Each of the two studies under consideration proposed provocative parallels between structural changes in the violin and the Law of Natural Selection. But, the more appropriate analysis rests on the Law of Effect shaping the behavior of the luthiers. What is revealed is, first, that increasing the length of the sound-holes amplified the acoustic power of the violin, thus leading luthiers to lengthen the sound-holes; and, second, that the aesthetic tastes of their customers led luthiers to modify the overall shapes of their violins.

Type
Chapter
Information
As If By Design
How Creative Behaviors Really Evolve
, pp. 259 - 269
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

Caufield, R. P. (2016). The Iowa Caucus. Charleston, SC: Arcadia.Google Scholar
Collins, K., Lu, D., and Smart, C. (2020, February 14). We Checked the Iowa Caucus Math. Here’s Where It Didn’t Add Up. The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/02/14/us/politics/iowa-caucus-results-mistakes.htmlGoogle Scholar
Khalid, A. (2016, January 29). The Perfect State Index: If Iowa, N.H. Are Too White to Go First, Then Who? NPR. www.npr.org/2016/01/29/464250335/the-perfect-state-index-if-iowa-n-h-are-too-white-to-go-first-then-whoGoogle Scholar
Prokop, A. (2020, February 3). How the Iowa Caucus Results Will Actually Work – and Why 2020’s Could Be More Confusing Than Ever. Vox. www.vox.com/2020/1/30/21083701/iowa-caucuses-results-delegates-mathGoogle Scholar
Redlawsk, D. P., Tolbert, C. J., and Donovan, T. (2011). Why Iowa? How Caucuses and Sequential Elections Improve the Presidential Nominating Process. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Winebrenner, H. (1983). The Evolution of the Iowa Precinct Caucuses. The Annals of Iowa, 46, 618635.Google Scholar

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