Motivation

*If anyone wants more detailed comments or for me to look at another draft, please let me know*

Nick’s Paper

What is your operating definition of “fun”? You say, ‘alternatively collaborative and competitive actor with a preference for fun and with strong beliefs and constraints emerging from the context in which such collaboration and competition occurs.” By the end of your piece I was left with the feeling that “fun” as you describe it, is a somewhat iterative process that requires a person interacting with others in a relatively unstructured environment, which might explain why collaborative work and competitive sports may be amusing, but maybe not fun in the sense that you use. Is there anyway to bring the conversational interactive elements to the fore earlier on in your article?

Given your initial discussion of Jefferson and de Tocqueville, it might be worth comparing this acquisitive fun with a philosophy like hedonism, pleasure as the highest good.

In the Legislative section, you give the DMCA provision, but then quote from the CDA for your next section. Is the CDA so complicated or poorly organized that it makes more sense not to cite it directly?

A most enjoyable read!

Jason’s Paper

Is there anyone out there who argues that low voter turnout might actually be a positive in that it shows that people accept/support the status quo? Are there differences in how people vote in times of public stress, unrest as opposed to times of tranquility? (This seems slightly different than a private/public interest argument like Posner’s.) Of course, you argue that the status quo skews elections in favor of the economically advantaged so it may not be something you see as a positive.

Your section on the social norm research was fascinating. You question whether you should address the “myth of the independent voter.” I’m not entirely sure what that is, but if increased party affiliation leads to more voting, then going more into independents and what factors they use in self-identification would be useful. Is there a chance that issue identification rather than party identification will have a similar effect? Issue-specific initiatives have long been key to partisan voting (anti-abortion = R; pro-welfare = D). Maybe greater targeting by parties to specific areas on specific issues would increase turnout? Though in an age of technology, the targeting might be perceived as disingenuous.

I notice throughout this section that affiliation seems like a key determinant of voting. We discussed this concept quite a bit in a course I took last semester on emotions in negotiation, so let me know if you’d like to hear more about it (though I’m not sure you need to deal with it much further).

Do you discuss the social norm created when people have the day off work to vote? This may not be an effective strategy given other countries’ results, but having a day that is exclusively devoted to voting would be a strong statement that the state encourages people to vote. There may be structures – like paid day off – that would be interesting to examine. Would paid day off help encourage poorer groups to vote or would the money crowd out the motivation to vote? Would it discourage voting if you only got the day off if you voted and had to forfeit your salary if you didn’t?

Very thorough look at the social norms of voting; this is great so far.

Vanessa’s Paper

Your discussion of the psychosocial literature is extensive, and the biological feels like more of an afterthought. Given your excellent discussion of the studies in one realm, it might be worth delving more into the biological, or at least explaining why it’s not as relevant or helpful to the goals of your article.

In the altruistic punishment model you begin to set up, are you assuming that the actors in the model are all men? Maybe this is a gendered assumption on my part, but by labeling altruistic punishers as “bullies,” it sounds like women are not punishers (though this isn’t necessarily the case based on what you said, just my impression). How do women fit into this model?

Your discussion of men who have already established their manhood put me in mind of Dennis Rodman. Not that he’s using gender norms in a positive way, but he may be an example of flexibility once hyper-masculinity has been established.

I’m looking forward to talking about this one today!