A 'small-world' network analysis on the committee memberships in the Philippine House of Representatives

Authors

Mary Jacqueline N. Sombillo National Institute of Physics, University of the Philippines Diliman
Marisciel Litong-Palima National Institute of Physics, University of the Philippines Diliman
Caesar Saloma National Institute of Physics, University of the Philippines Diliman

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the structure of one of the most influential institutions in the country – the Philippine House of Representatives. Using the network analysis approach, it was found that the network of committee memberships in the House exhibited the major characteristics of small world networks. High clustering of the network was evident – the actual network was 27.4 times more clustered as compared with an equivalent random network. A small characteristic path length, comparable to a random network was also obtained, and a degree distribution, which deviated significantly from a Poisson distribution expected for a random graph, had been observed. The small-world characteristics in the structure of committee memberships in the House of Representatives allow better information diffusion and coordination among the representatives, committees, and the entire House as a whole. In addition, these properties also proved the existence of an elite group, with members holding several committee memberships and significant committee positions.

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Issue

2005: Proceedings of the 23rd Samahang Pisika ng Pilipinas Physics Congress

Article ID

SPP-2005-PB-39

Section

Poster Session PB

Published

2005-10-26

How to Cite

[1]

MJN Sombillo, M Litong-Palima, and C Saloma, A ’small-world’ network analysis on the committee memberships in the Philippine House of Representatives, Proceedings of the Samahang Pisika ng Pilipinas 23, SPP-2005-PB-39 (2005). URL: https://proceedings.spp-online.org/article/view/SPP-2005-PB-39.