From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

James H. Fowler
James Fowler at Poptech, October 24, 2009. Source: Kris Krüg, flickr.
Born	February 18, 1970
Residence	United States
Citizenship	American
Fields	Social network analysis Cooperation Political participation Genopolitics
Institutions	University of California, San Diego University of California, Davis
Alma mater	Harvard University (1992, 2001, 2003) Yale University (1997)
Known for	Obesity contagiousness Happiness contagiousness Genopolitics Genes and Social Networks Colbert bump

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 and an affiliate in the Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems.

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.^[1] He is best known for his studies of the social spread of obesity^[2][3], smoking^[4], and happiness^[5][6] in the Framingham Heart Study, but he has also studied the network of legislative cosponsorships in the U.S. Congress^[7][8] and the network of U.S. Supreme Court precedents.^[9][10].

In addition to his research on social networks, Fowler has become known for his work on genopolitics, showing that genes influence voting and other forms of political participation.^[11][12][13] 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.^[14] He has also identified three genes that are associated with voter turnout and partisan attachment, specifically those regulating the serotonin and dopamine systems in the brain via the production of monoamine oxidase, 5HTT, and DRD2.^[15][16]

More recently, he has shown evidence that social networks have a partly genetic basis.^[17]

In other research, Fowler is known for his theoretical and experimental work on egalitarianism^[18][19] and the evolution of cooperation,^[20][21] with related work on altruism and political participation.^[22]

Books

In September 2009, Little, Brown & Co. published Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives by Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler.^[23] Connected draws on previously published and unpublished studies, including the Framingham Heart Study and makes several new conclusions about the influence of social networks on human health and behavior.^[24] In Connected, they put forward their "Three Degrees of Influence" rule about human behavior, which theorizes that each person's individual social influence stretches three degrees before it fades out.^[25][26]

The Colbert Report

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.^[27][28] Colbert pointed out the op-ed on his March 3, 2008 show. Fowler also appeared during the Threatdown on his December 10, 2008 show, describing his work on the spread of happiness in social networks, and again on the 7th of December 2010 to discuss the sociological impact of social networking.

Selected Publications

The Framingham Heart Study Social Network

• Fowler, J. H.; Christakis, N. A (3 January 2009). "Dynamic Spread of Happiness in a Large Social Network: Longitudinal Analysis Over 20 Years in the Framingham Heart Study" (PDF). British Medical Journal 338 (768): a2338. doi:10.1136/bmj.a2338. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/dynamic_spread_of_happiness.pdf.  

• Christakis, N. A.; Fowler, JH (22 May 2008). "The Collective Dynamics of Smoking in a Large Social Network" (PDF). New England Journal of Medicine 358 (21): 2249–2258. doi:10.1056/NEJMsa0706154. PMID 18499567. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/collective_dynamics_of_smoking.pdf.  

• Christakis, N. A.; Fowler, JH (26 July 2007). "The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network Over 32 Years" (PDF). New England Journal of Medicine 357 (4): 370–379. doi:10.1056/NEJMsa066082. PMID 17652652. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/spread_of_obesity.pdf.  

• Cacioppo, J. T.; Fowler, JH; Christakis, NA (December 2009). "Alone in the Crowd: The Structure and Spread of Loneliness in a Large Social Network" (PDF). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 97 (6): 977–991. doi:10.1037/a0016076 (inactive 2010-01-11). PMID 19968414. PMC 2792572. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/alone_in_the_crowd.pdf.  

Genes and Politics

• Fowler, J. H.; Schreiber, D (7 November 2008). "Biology, Politics, and the Emerging Science of Human Nature" (PDF). Science 322 (5903): 912–914. doi:10.1126/science.1158188. PMID 18988845. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/biology_and_politics.pdf.  

• Fowler, J. H.; Baker, Laura A.; Dawes, Christopher T. (May 2008). "Genetic Variation in Political Participation" (PDF). American Political Science Review 102 (2): 233–248. doi:10.1017/S0003055408080209. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/genetic_basis_of_political_cooperation.pdf.  

• Fowler, J. H.; Dawes, Christopher T. (July 2008). "Two Genes Predict Voter Turnout" (PDF). Journal of Politics 70 (3): 579–594. doi:10.1017/S0022381608080638. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/two_genes_predict_voter_turnout.pdf.  

• Dawes, C. T.; Fowler, James H. (July 2009). "Partisanship, Voting, and the Dopamine D2 Receptor Gene" (PDF). Journal of Politics 71 (3): 1157–1171. doi:10.1017/S002238160909094X. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/partisanship_voting_and_drd2.pdf.  

Genes and Social Networks

• Fowler, J. H. (10 February 2009). "Model of Genetic Variation in Human Social Networks" (PDF). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106 (6): 1720–1724. doi:10.107/pnas.0806746106 (inactive 2010-01-11). http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/genes_and_social_networks.pdf.  

Experimental Studies of Cooperation and Egalitarianism

• Cesarini, D.; Dawes, C. T.; Fowler, J. H.; Johannesson, M.; Lichtenstein, P.; Wallace, B. (11 March 2008). "Heritability of Cooperative Behavior in the Trust Game" (PDF). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105 (10): 3721–3726. doi:10.1073/pnas.0710069105. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/heritability_of_cooperative_behavior.pdf.  

• Dawes, C. T.; Fowler, JH; Johnson, T; McElreath, R; Smirnov, O (12 April 2007). "Egalitarian Motives in Humans" (PDF). Nature 446 (7137): 794–796. doi:10.1038/nature05651. PMID 17429399. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/egalitarian_motives.pdf.  

• Fowler, J. H.; Johnson, Tim; Smirnov, Oleg (6 January 2005). "Egalitarian Motive and Altruistic Punishment" (PDF). Nature 433: E1. doi:10.1038/nature03256. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/egalitarian_motive_and_altruistic_punishment.pdf.  

• McDermott, R.; Fowler, James H.; Smirnov, Oleg (April 2008). "On the Evolutionary Origin of Prospect Theory Preferences" (PDF). Journal of Politics 70 (2): 335–350. doi:10.1017/S0022381608080341. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/prospect_theory.pdf.  

Evolutionary Models

• Fowler, J. H. (10 May 2005). "Altruistic Punishment and the Origin of Cooperation" (PDF). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102 (19): 7047–7049. doi:10.1073/pnas.0500938102. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/altruistic_punishment_and_the_origin_of_cooperation.pdf.  

• Fowler, J. H. (22 September 2005). "Second Order Free Riding Problem Solved" (PDF). Nature 437 (7058): E8. doi:10.1038/nature04201. PMID 16177738. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/second_order.pdf.  

Altruism and Political Participation

• Fowler, J. H. (August 2006). "Altruism and Turnout" (PDF). Journal of Politics 68 (3): 674–683. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2508.2006.00453.x. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/altruism_and_turnout.pdf.  

• Fowler, J. H.; Kam, Cindy D. (August 2007). "Beyond the Self: Altruism, Social Identity, and Political Participation" (PDF). Journal of Politics 69 (3): 811–825. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2508.2007.00577.x. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/beyond_the_self.pdf.  

Legislator Social Networks

• Fowler, J. H. (Fall 2006). "Connecting the Congress: A Study of Cosponsorship Networks" (PDF). Political Analysis 14 (4): 456–487. doi:10.1093/pan/mpl002. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/best_connected_congressperson.pdf.  

• Fowler, J. H. (October 2006). "Legislative Cosponsorship Networks in the U.S. House and Senate" (PDF). Social Networks 28 (4): 454–465. doi:10.1016/j.socnet.2005.11.003. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/legislative_cosponsorship_networks.pdf.  

Voter Social Networks

• Fowler, J. H. (2005). "Turnout in a Small World". in Zuckerman, Alan. Social Logic of Politics. Philadelphia: Temple Univ. Press. pp. 269–287. ISBN 1592131484. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/turnout_in_a_small_world.pdf.  

• Fowler, J. H.; Smirnov, Oleg (January 2005). "Dynamic Parties and Social Turnout: An Agent-Based Model" (PDF). American Journal of Sociology 110 (4): 1070–1094. doi:10.1086/426554. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/dynamic_parties_and_social_turnout.pdf.  

Network of Supreme Court Precedents

• Fowler, J. H.; Jeon, S (January 2008). "The Authority of Supreme Court Precedent" (PDF). Social Networks 30 (1): 16–30. doi:10.1016/j.socnet.2007.05.001. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/authority_of_supreme_court_precedent.pdf.  

• Fowler, J. H.; Johnson, T. R.; Spriggs, J. F.; Jeon, S.; Wahlbeck, P. J. (July 2007). "Network Analysis and the Law: Measuring the Legal Importance of Supreme Court Precedents" (PDF). Political Analysis 15 (3): 324–346. doi:10.1093/pan/mpm011. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/network_analysis_and_the_law.pdf.  

Notes

External links

• Personal webpage for James Fowler
• SSRN page with papers by James Fowler
• Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems
• UCSD Political Science Department faculty
• James H. Fowler at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
• Video interview in Conversation with Tom Munnecke January 7, 2009
• Peace Corps Wiki article http://www.peacecorpswiki.org/James_Fowler
• Website for Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives http://connectedthebook.com