Graphr: Visualizing Congressional Collaboration
Graphr is an interactive software which visualizes collaboration networks in the 112th US Congress. Collaborations are implied from the “signers” on congressional statements.
To launch the online software click here: Graphr Congressional Visualizer
Some questions:
- Select 2011 colored by party. How many clusters do you see? (A cluster is a collection of highly interconnected nodes). What are the primary attributes of each cluster?
- Select 2010 colored by party. Notice the small cluster of republicans. Try dragging them around to uncover their structure (click a node after dragging it to unpin it). What senator is represented by the most connected node in this cluster (hover over the node to see)? Look him up on wikipedia. Is there anything special you can identify about him?
- Select 2008. Notice the pairs of isolated connected nodes. Hover over them. What property do these pairs share that is causing them to be connected?
- Select 2011 colored by party. Are there any nodes that stand out as having unusual connections? Look them up on wikipedia. Can you explain what’s happening?
- Select 2009 colored by gender. Does this suggest that women are more likely to work with each other in congress? Try hovering over each woman and/or coloring them by different properties. What can you tell?
We invite you to explore and find our own connections!
