On the distributive law

The generalized distributive law

In this semitutorial paper we discuss a general message passing algorithm, which we call the generalized distributive law (GDL). The GDL is a synthesis of the work of many authors in the information theory, digital communications, signal processing, statistics, and artificial intelligence communities. It includes as special cases the Baum–Welch algorithm, the fast Fourier transform (FFT) on any...

Distributive Injustice and Private Law

Logic as a distributive law

We present an algorithm for deriving a spatial-behavioral type system from a formal presentation of a computational calculus. Given a 2-monad Calc : Cat → Cat for the free calculus on a category of terms and rewrites and a 2-monad BoolAlg for the free Boolean algebra on a category, we get a 2-monad Form = BoolAlg + Calc for the free category of formulae and proofs. We also get the 2-monad BoolA...

Distributive Politics and the Law of 1/n

Distributive politics models often predict that legislators will demand inefficiently large projects, with inefficiency increasing in the number of districts, and that this will translate into larger projects and higher spending. The relationship between efficiency and legislature size is often referred to as the ‘‘law of 1/n’’(Weingast, Shepsle, and Johnsen 1981). We demonstrate that the ‘‘law...

Tort Law from the Perspective of Corrective and Distributive Justice

In the following paper we will be mapping tort law in the common law, reflecting on the divergence between corrective and distributive justice and their main theoretical defenses deployed by Anglo-American scholars. The concepts are in turn portrayed in their proper context: a legal culture shaped historically different from the continental legal culture. However, at a deeper level, both tradit...