Abraham Diskin (born 1947) is an Israeli
political scientist at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...
, and a professor at the Interdisciplinary Center in
Herzliya
Herzliya ( ; he, הֶרְצְלִיָּה ; ar, هرتسليا, Hirtsiliyā) is an affluent city in the central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In it h ...
.
Diskin was the Chair of the Political Science Department of the Hebrew University and the Chair of the Israel Political Science Association. He also served as a visiting professor at several universities in the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan. Diskin has published over twenty books and monographs, mostly about Israeli politics.
In the 1970s, Diskin analyzed the critical importance of the domination of the ‘pivotal point’ (i.e. the balance between the left wing bloc and the right wing bloc), and the significance of voters floating between two major political blocs. During the 2000s, he helped to write the Constitution proposed by the Institute for Zionist Strategies and advised the Constitution Committee of the
Knesset
The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...
.
Diskin's research focuses on comparative politics,
democracy
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...
,
game theory
Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions among rational agents. Myerson, Roger B. (1991). ''Game Theory: Analysis of Conflict,'' Harvard University Press, p.&nbs1 Chapter-preview links, ppvii–xi It has appli ...
, electoral systems and voting behavior. During the 2000s he published (often in conjunction with
Moshe Koppel
Moshe Koppel is an American-Israeli computer scientist, Talmud scholar and political activist.
Koppel was born and raised in New York, where he received a traditional Jewish education. He studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion, received a B.A. from Yes ...
) two solutions to
John Nash’s bargaining problem, a solution of the Voting Power measurement, a proof of the association between ‘strategic non-voting’ and ‘decisiveness’ of electoral competitions in the United States and Britain in the twentieth century, a proof of homogeneity in Swiss referendums, and a new measure of electoral malapportionment, volatility and disproportionality.
Diskin often appears as a political analyst on the Israeli and international media. In the 1980s and the early 1990s, he chaired the Cadets’ Committee of the
Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since the 1990s he has served as the statistician of the Central Committee of Elections in Israel. He is known as a political centrist and was one of the founders of the Third Way party in 1996.
Literary and artistic career
For his non-academic and
artistic work
A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...
, Diskin uses the pen name “Bertie.” Diskin has written and illustrated several children books, among them “Gorgozula" and "The Mice and the Magic Ball. He co-authored a book on the World Soccer Championships (“Mondial”) with his son Tommer. Diskin has published two satirical works (''On the Sinking Ship'' and ''The Lagado Travel''). In 2008 he published ''The Presidents'' – ''Ha’Nesi’im''), a book about American presidents.
Published works
* Bertie (A. Diskin), On the Sinking Ship, Jerusalem: Akadamon, 1998, (Hebrew)
* Diskin, A., The Last Days in Israel: Understanding the New Israeli Democracy, London: Frank Cass, 2003
* Bertie (A. Diskin), The Lagado Travel, Jerusalem: Maggie Publishers, 2003, (Hebrew)
* Diskin, A., Eschet-Schwarz A. and Felsenthal D., “Homogeneity, Heterogeneity and Direct Democracy: The Case of Swiss Referenda”, Canadian Journal of Political Science, June 2007, 40(2), pp. 317–342
* Diskin, A. and Felsenthal, D.S, “Individual Rationality and Bargaining”, Public Choice, 2007, 133:25-29.
* Hazan, R.Y., and Diskin, A., “The February 2009 Parliamentary Election in Israel”, Electoral Studies, 2009.
* Koppel, M., and Diskin, A., “Measuring Disproportionality, Volatility and Malapportionment: Axiomatization and Solutions”, Social Choice and Welfare, 2009.
* Diskin, A., and Koppel, M., “Voting Power: An Information Theory Approach”, Social Choice and Welfare, 2009.
* Diskin, A., “Israel”, European Journal of Political Research, December 2009.
* Abramson, P.R., Aldrich, J.H., Blais, A., Diamond, M., Diskin, A., Indridason, I.H., Lee, D.J., and Levine, R., “Comparing Strategic Voting under FPTP and PR”, Comparative Political Studies, March 2010, 43(3).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diskin, Avraham
Israeli political scientists
Living people
Academic staff of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
1947 births