(1908-91) Scottish economist; one of the modern pioneers of analytically rigorous political science. From his time as a student of physics and economics in Glasgow (1929-33), he dreamt of formulating a ‘Pure Science of Politics’ in which any political system could be represented by a set of definitions and axioms. His most important contribution, the median voter theorem, came to him in 1942. It states that if all members of a voting body (committee, legislature, or electorate) recognize one main dimension in politics (left-right, for example, so that all leftists like the rightmost option least, all rightists like the leftmost option least, and everybody else dislikes an option more the further it is from their favourite position), then the median voter's favourite position will win in any reasonable voting procedure. Hence the median voter may stand for the whole voting body. The median voter theorem does not necessarily hold in more than one dimension, as Black was the first to see, because then there is always the possibility of majority-rule cycling. But where one dimension dominates the others, as in Congressional committees or (probably) UK voting behaviour in general elections, it is a powerful predictor of convergence on the median voter's position. In the long run, politicians who diverge far from this are unlikely to be successful, even if protected by an electoral system for some time.
Duncan Black
| Political Dictionary: Duncan Black |
| 5min Related Video: Duncan Black |
| Wikipedia: Atrios |
| Duncan Bowen Black | |
|---|---|
 Atrios (second from right). To the left of him are (left to right) Matt Stoller, David Goldstein, and Janeane Garofalo. At right is David Postman (Seattle Times) |
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| Born | February 18, 1972 |
| Residence | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Known for | Eschaton weblog |
| Call-sign | Atrios |
| Website http://eschatonblog.com/ |
|
Duncan Bowen Black (born February 18, 1972), better known by his pseudonym Atrios (pronounced /ˈeɪtrioʊs/), is an American liberal blogger living in Philadelphia. His weblog Eschaton is one of the most popular political weblogs, receiving an average of over 100,000 hits every day.[1] Black was also a regular commentator on Air America Radio's The Majority Report.
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Biography
After obtaining his BA from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Black obtained a Ph.D. in economics from Brown University in 1999. He has worked at the London School of Economics, the Université catholique de Louvain, the University of California, Irvine, and, most recently, Bryn Mawr College. He is now a Senior Fellow at the media research group Media Matters for America.
Black began his online political life in Salon magazine's Tabletalk messageboards under the pseudonym of Kurt Foster, then began blogging as Atrios, remaining pseudonymous for several years, and even joking that he was actually a high school gym teacher. According to Black, the name "Atrios" is actually a (misspelled) reference to a character named Antrios in the Yasmina Reza play 'Art' who paints the play's key "white painting on white canvas".
Before starting Eschaton, Black wrote (as Atrios) for the webzine Media Whores Online (now defunct). During the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, he revealed that he had accepted a job at Media Matters for America and allowed his name and photograph to be published. He later said that as an academic he blogged pseudonymously to avoid attacks like those later unleashed on Timothy Shortell.[2]
Eschaton
Black's weblog Eschaton generally features short entries on a variety of topics ranging from policy commentary to breaking news and links. Posts are frequent — on the order of ten every day. The majority of posts are authored by Black (as Atrios), but there are occasional guest bloggers. On June 29, 2005, Black described Eschaton as not a blog but an "Online Magazine of News, Commentary, and Editorial."[3] Following a similar announcement from The Talent Show,[4] this was a satirical reaction to Federal Election Commission hearings[5] on the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. Black had previously expressed frustration[6] that the FEC might not apply the act's "media exemption" to blogs, which he regarded as equivalent to other forms of media including online magazines.
Appearance in Fiction
Atrios (portrayed by an uncredited actor) appeared briefly in the 7th Season West Wing episode Welcome to Wherever You Are (Episode 7x15) meeting with the fictional democratic presidential candidate Matt Santos. Atrios was introduced by Josh Lyman (played by Bradley Whitford) as having "raised 300 grand online" and having "almost as many readers as the The Philadelphia Inquirer". [7]
Language
Duncan Black is credited with creating the neologism "Friedman Unit" to refer to New York Times columnist Tom Friedman's predilection for repeatedly pushing a withdrawal from the Iraq War out a further 6 months.
References
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ Black, Duncan (2005-06-12). ""And People Wondered..."". Eschaton. http://atrios.blogspot.com/2005_06_12_atrios_archive.html#111904910536820980. Retrieved 2006-07-06.
- ^ "Inside Politics". CNN. 2005-06-30. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0506/30/ip.01.html. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
- ^ ""The Talent Show is dead. Long live The Talent Show."". The Talent Show. 2005-06-29. http://www.thetalentshow.org/archives/001896.html. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
- ^ Faler, Brian (2005-07-19). "FEC Hears Bloggers' Bid to Share Media Exemption". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/11/AR2005071101376.html. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
- ^ Black, Duncan (2005-06-29). ""FEC Follies"". Eschaton. http://atrios.blogspot.com/2005_06_26_atrios_archive.html#112009292797146520. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
- ^ Nico Pitney (2006-03-27). "Atrios on NBC's West Wing". Think Progress. http://thinkprogress.org/2006/03/27/atrios-on-nbcs-west-wing/. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Atrios |
- Atrios's Eschaton
- Report From the Front: An MWO Reader tries to bring down The Nation and The Hunting of the Snitch - Atrios writing for Media Whores Online on The Nation columnist Christopher Hitchens (Snitch)
- Profile by The Philadelphia Inquirer's Dan Rubin
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
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Copyrights:
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 | Political Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics. Copyright © 1996, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Atrios". Read more |
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