James H. Fowler

Infobox Scientist
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name = James H. Fowler


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birth_date = February 18, 1970
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residence = United States
citizenship = American
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fields = Social network analysis
Cooperation
political participation
genopolitics
workplaces = University of California, San Diego
University of California, Davis
alma_mater = Harvard University (1992, 2001, 2003)
Yale University (1997)
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known_for = Obesity contagiousness
Colbert bump
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James H. Fowler (born February 18, 1970) is an American political scientist specializing in social networks, cooperation, political participation, and genopolitics (the study of the genetic basis of political behavior). He is currently Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego.

Background

Fowler earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard College in 1992, a master's degree in International Relations from Yale University in 1997, and a Ph.D. in Government from the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 2003. He was also a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador from 1992 to 1994.

Research

Fowler's research centers on social networks. He is best known for his studies of the social spread of obesity and smoking in the Framingham Heart Study published in the "New England Journal of Medicine". [cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/25/eveningnews/main3097768.shtml |title=Are Friends And Family Making You Fat? |publisher=CBS Evening News |date=July 25, 2007] [cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/25/health/25cnd-fat.html |title=Study Says Obesity Can Be Contagious |publisher=New York Times |date=July 25, 2007] [cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/22/science/22smoke.html |title=Study Finds Big Social Factor in Quitting Smoking |publisher=New York Times |date=May 22, 2008]

He has also studied the network of legislative cosponsorships in the U.S. Congress, [cite news|title=Inside the Beltway |publisher=Washington Times |date=April 13, 2005] [cite news|title=In Session: Congress |publisher=Washington Post |date=April 11, 2005] the network of U.S. Supreme Court precedents, [cite news|title=Primary Sources |publisher=The Atlantic |date=December 2005] [cite news|url=http://economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?story_id=4316174 |title=Statistical Modeling: The Wisdom of Hercules |publisher=The Economist |date=August 25, 2005] and the network of Ph.D. placements and citations in academia.

Fowler is also known for his work on egalitarianism [cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtml?xml=/connected/2007/04/12/echood12.xml |title=The Robin Hood impulse |publisher=The Daily Telegraph |date=12 April 2007 |page=8] [cite journal|url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v446/n7137/full/7137xiiia.html |title=Making the Paper: James Fowler |journal=Nature |issue=446, |pages=xiii |date=12 April 2007] and the evolution of cooperation [cite news|url=http://www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/050613/13behavior.htm |title=Why We Need Nosy Parkers |publisher=U.S. News and World Report |date=June 13, 2005] [cite news|url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5328549 |title=Groups Unite in Dislike of Freeloaders |publisher=National Public Radio |date=April 6, 2006] which has appeared in "Nature" and "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences", with related work on altruism and political participation [cite journal|title=Political Scientists Convene to Probe and Predict U.S. Elections |journal=Chronicle of Higher Education|date=September 17, 2004] appearing in the "American Journal of Political Science", "American Journal of Sociology", and "Journal of Politics".

Most recently, Fowler has become known for his work showing that voting and other forms of political participation have a partly genetic basis. [cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/opinion/27tue4.html |title=It's the Genes Stupid |publisher=New York Times |date=May 27, 2008] Fowler used twin studies of voter turnout in Los Angeles and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to establish that the decision to vote in the United States has very strong heritability. [cite journal|url=http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-genetics-of-politics |title=The Genetics of Politics |journal=Scientific American |month=November | year=2007] He has also identified two genes that are associated with voter turnout, specifically those regulating the serotonin system in the brain via the production of monoamine oxidase and 5HTT. [cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/02/11/politics.genes/index.html |title=Are Politics Rooted in Your Genes? |publisher=CNN |date=February 11, 2008]

On February 28, 2008, the Los Angeles Times published an op-ed that summarized Fowler's research showing that Democratic candidates who come on The Colbert Report receive 44% more in campaign donations in the first 30 days after appearing on the show. [cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-fowler28feb28,0,1569470.story |title=Sharing the wealthiness |publisher=Los Angeles Times |date=February 28, 2008 |last=Fowler |first=James H.] [cite journal|url=http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/colbert_bump.pdf |title=The Colbert Bump in Campaign Donations: More Truthful than Truthy |journal=PS: Political Science & Politics |issue=3 |volume=41 |pages=533-539 |month=July | year=2008 |last=Fowler |first=James H.|format=PDF] Colbert pointed out the op-ed on his March 3, 2008 show.

elected Publications

The Framingham Heart Study Social Network

*cite journal|title=The Collective Dynamics of Smoking in a Large Social Network |url=http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/collective_dynamics_of_smoking.pdf |journal=New England Journal of Medicine |volume=358 |issue=21 |pages=2249-2258 |date=22 May 2008 |doi=10.1056/NEJMsa0706154|format=PDF

*cite journal|title=The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network Over 32 Years |journal=New England Journal of Medicine |url=http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/spread_of_obesity.pdf |volume=357 |issue=4 |pages=370-379 |date=26 July 2007 | doi=10.1056/NEJMsa066082|format=PDF

Genes and Politics

*cite journal|title=Genetic Variation in Political Participation |journal=American Political Science Review |url=http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/genetic_basis_of_political_cooperation.pdf | issue=2 |volume=102 |pages=233-248 |month=May | year=2008 | doi=10.1017/S0003055408080209|format=PDF
*cite journal|title=Two Genes Predict Voter Turnout |journal=Journal of Politics |url=http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/two_genes_predict_voter_turnout.pdf | issue=3 |volume=70 |pages=579-594 |month=July | year=2008 |format=PDF

Experimental Studies of Cooperation and Egalitarianism

*cite journal|title=Heritability of Cooperative Behavior in the Trust Game |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |url=http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/heritability_of_cooperative_behavior.pdf |volume=105 |issue=10 |pages=3721-3726 |date=11 March 2008 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0710069105|format=PDF
*cite journal|title=Egalitarian Motives in Humans |url=http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/egalitarian_motives.pdf |journal=Nature |volume=446 |doi=10.1038/nature05651 |pages=794-796 |date=12 April 2007|format=PDF
*cite journal|title=Egalitarian Motive and Altruistic Punishment |journal=Nature |volume=433 |doi=10.1038/nature03256 |date=6 January 2005 |url=http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/egalitarian_motive_and_altruistic_punishment.pdf

Altruism and Political Participation

*cite journal|title=Altruism and Turnout |journal=Journal of Politics |volume=68 |issue=3 |pages=674-683 |month=August | year=2006 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-2508.2006.00453.x |url=http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/altruism_and_turnout.pdf
*cite journal|title=Beyond the Self: Altruism, Social Identity, and Political Participation |url=http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/beyond_the_self.pdf |journal=Journal of Politics |issue=3 |volume=69 |pages=811-825 |month=August | year=2007 | doi=10.1111/j.1468-2508.2007.00577.x |url=http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/beyond_the_self.pdf|format=PDF

Evolutionary Models

*cite journal|title=Altruistic Punishment and the Origin of Cooperation |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=102 |issue=19 |pages=7047-7049 |date=10 May 2005 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0500938102 |url=http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/altruistic_punishment_and_the_origin_of_cooperation.pdf

*cite journal|title=Second Order Free Riding Problem Solved |journal=Nature |volume=437 |doi=10.1038/nature04201 |date=22 September 2005 |url=http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/second_order.pdf

Network of Supreme Court Precedents

*cite journal|title=The Authority of Supreme Court Precedent |journal=Social Networks |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=16-30 |month=January | year=2008 |url=http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/authority_of_supreme_court_precedent.pdf |doi=10.1016/j.socnet.2007.05.001|format=PDF
*cite journal|title=Network Analysis and the Law: Measuring the Legal Importance of Supreme Court Precedents |journal=Political Analysis |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=324-346 |month=July | year=2007 |doi=10.1093/pan/mpm011 |url=http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/network_analysis_and_the_law.pdf

Legislator Social Networks

*cite journal|title=Connecting the Congress: A Study of Cosponsorship Networks |journal=Political Analysis |issue=4 |volume=14 |pages=456-487 |date=Fall 2006 |doi=10.1093/pan/mpl002 |url=http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/best_connected_congressperson.pdf
*cite journal|title=Legislative Cosponsorship Networks in the U.S. House and Senate |journal=Social Networks |issue=4 |volume=28 |pages=454-465 |month=October | year=2006 |doi=10.1016/j.socnet.2005.11.003 |url=http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/legislative_cosponsorship_networks.pdf

Voter Social Networks

*citation|last=Fowler |first=James H.|contribution=Turnout in a Small World |editor-last=Zuckerman |editor-first=Alan |title=Social Logic of Politics |publisher=Temple University Press |pages=269-287 |date=2005 |isbn=1592131484 |url=http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/turnout_in_a_small_world.pdf

*cite journal|title=Dynamic Parties and Social Turnout: An Agent-Based Model |journal=American Journal of Sociology |volume=110 |issue=4 |pages=1070-1094 |month=January | year=2005 |doi=10.1086/426554 |url=http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/dynamic_parties_and_social_turnout.pdf

Notes

External links

* Personal webpage for [http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu James Fowler]
* SSRN page with papers by [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=646904 James Fowler]
* [http://polisci.ucsd.edu/faculty/faculty.html UCSD Political Science Department faculty]
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