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Intelligent Systems Reference Library 114

Anand Jayant Kulkarni

Ganesh Krishnasamy
Ajith Abraham

Cohort
Intelligence: A
Socio-inspired
Optimization
Method
Intelligent Systems Reference Library

Volume 114

Series editors
Janusz Kacprzyk, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
e-mail: kacprzyk@ibspan.waw.pl
Lakhmi C. Jain, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia;
Bournemouth University, UK;
KES International, UK
e-mail: jainlc2002@yahoo.co.uk; Lakhmi.Jain@canberra.edu.au
URL: http://www.kesinternational.org/organisation.php
About this Series

The aim of this series is to publish a Reference Library, including novel advances
and developments in all aspects of Intelligent Systems in an easily accessible and
well structured form. The series includes reference works, handbooks, compendia,
textbooks, well-structured monographs, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. It contains
well integrated knowledge and current information in the field of Intelligent
Systems. The series covers the theory, applications, and design methods of
Intelligent Systems. Virtually all disciplines such as engineering, computer science,
avionics, business, e-commerce, environment, healthcare, physics and life science
are included.

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/8578

Anand Jayant Kulkarni Ganesh Krishnasamy
•

Ajith Abraham

Cohort Intelligence:
A Socio-inspired
Optimization Method

123
Anand Jayant Kulkarni Ganesh Krishnasamy
Odette School of Business Department of Electrical Engineering,
University of Windsor Faculty of Engineering
Windsor, ON Universiti Malaya
Canada Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
and
Ajith Abraham
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Machine Intelligence Research Labs
Symbiosis Institute of Technology (MIR Labs)
Symbiosis International University Scientific Network for Innovation
Pune, Maharashtra and Research Excellence
India Auburn, WA
USA

ISSN 1868-4394 ISSN 1868-4408 (electronic)

Intelligent Systems Reference Library
ISBN 978-3-319-44253-2 ISBN 978-3-319-44254-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-44254-9
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016949596

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar
methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from
the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or
for any errors or omissions that may have been made.

Printed on acid-free paper

This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature

The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Anand Jayant Kulkarni would like to dedicate
this book to his
loving wife ‘Prajakta’
and
lovely son ‘Nityay’
Preface

This book is written for engineers, scientists, and students studying/working in the
optimization, artificial intelligence (AI), or computational intelligence arena. The
book discusses the core and underlying principles and analysis of the different
concepts associated with an emerging socio-inspired AI optimization tool referred
to as cohort intelligence (CI).
The book in detail discusses the CI methodology as well as several modifications
for solving a variety of problems. The validation of the methodology is also pro-
vided by solving several unconstrained test problems. In order to make CI solve
real-world problems which are inherently constrained, CI method with a penalty
function approach is tested on several constrained test problems and comparison
of the performance is also discussed. The book also demonstrates the ability of
CI methodology for solving several cases of the combinatorial problems such as
traveling salesman problem (TSP) and knapsack problem (KP). In addition,
real-world applications of the CI methodology by solving complex and large-sized
combinatorial problems from the healthcare, inventory, supply chain optimization,
and cross-border transportation domain is also discussed. The inherent ability of
handling constraints based on the probability distribution is also revealed and
proved using these problems. A detailed mathematical formulation, solutions, and
comparisons are provided in every chapter. Moreover, the detailed discussion on
the CI methodology modifications for solving several problems from the machine
learning domain is also provided.
The mathematical level in all the chapters is well within the grasp of the sci-
entists as well as the undergraduate and graduate students from the engineering and
computer science streams. The reader is encouraged to have basic knowledge of
probability and mathematical analysis. In presenting the CI and associated modi-
fications and contributions, the emphasis is placed on the development of the
fundamental results from basic concepts. Numerous examples/problems are worked
out in the text to illustrate the discussion. These illustrative examples may allow the
reader to gain further insight into the associated concepts. The various algorithms
for solving have been coded in MATLAB software. All the executable codes are
available online at www.sites.google.com/site/oatresearch/cohort-intelligence.

vii
viii Preface

The book is an outgrowth of the three-year work by the authors. In addition,

Fazle Baki and Ben Chaouch from University of Windsor, ON, Canada, helped
with the complex combinatorial problem formulations. Over the period of 3 years,
the algorithms have been tested extensively for solving various real-world problems
as well as published in various prestigious journals and conferences. The sugges-
tions and criticism of various reviewers and colleagues had a significant influence
on the way the work has been presented in this book. We are much grateful to our
colleagues for reviewing the different parts of the manuscript and for providing
us valuable feedback. The authors would like to thank Dr. Thomas Ditzinger,
Springer Engineering In-house Editor, Studies in Computational Intelligence Series;
Prof. Janusz Kacprzyk, Editor-in-Chief, Springer Intelligence Systems Reference
Library Series; and Mr. Holger Schäpe, Editorial Assistant, Springer Verlag,
Heidelberg, for the editorial assistance and excellent cooperative collaboration to
produce this important scientific work. We hope that the reader will share our
excitement to present this volume on cohort intelligence and will find it useful.

Windsor, ON, Canada Anand Jayant Kulkarni

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Ganesh Krishnasamy
Auburn, WA, USA Ajith Abraham
May 2016
Contents

1 Introduction to Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 What Is Optimization? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.1 General Problem Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1.2 Active/Inactive/Violated Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.3 Global and Local Minimum Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 Contemporary Optimization Approaches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 Socio-Inspired Optimization Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2 Socio-Inspired Optimization Using Cohort Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.1 Framework of Cohort Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.2 Theoretical Comparison with Contemporary Techniques . . . . . . . 13
2.3 Validation of Cohort Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3 Cohort Intelligence for Constrained Test Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.1 Constraint Handling Using Penalty Function Approach . . . . . . . . 25
3.2 Numerical Experiments and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.3 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
4 Modified Cohort Intelligence for Solving Machine
Learning Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.2 The Clustering Problem and K-Means Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.3 Modified Cohort Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.4 Hybrid K-MCI and Its Application for Clustering . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.5 Experiment Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

ix
x Contents

4.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
5 Solution to 0–1 Knapsack Problem Using Cohort
Intelligence Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5.1 Knapsack Problem Using CI Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5.1.1 Illustration of CI Solving 0–1 KP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
5.2 Results and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
5.3 Conclusions and Future Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
5.4 Test Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
6 Cohort Intelligence for Solving Travelling Salesman Problems . . . . 75
6.1 Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
6.1.1 Solution to TSP Using CI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
6.2 Results and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
6.3 Concluding Remarks and Future Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
7 Solution to a New Variant of the Assignment Problem
Using Cohort Intelligence Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
7.1 New Variant of the Assignment Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
7.2 Probable Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
7.2.1 Application in Healthcare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
7.2.2 Application in Supply Chain Management . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
7.3 Cohort Intelligence (CI) Algorithm for Solving the CBAP . . . . . . 91
7.3.1 A Sample Illustration of the CI Algorithm
for Solving the CBAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
7.3.2 Numerical Experiments and Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
7.4 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
8 Solution to Sea Cargo Mix (SCM) Problem Using Cohort
Intelligence Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 101
8.1 Sea Cargo Mix Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 102
8.2 Cohort Intelligence for Solving Sea Cargo Mix (SCM)
Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
8.3 Numerical Experiments and Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
8.4 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
9 Solution to the Selection of Cross-Border Shippers (SCBS)
Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
9.1 Selection of Cross-Border Shippers (SCBS) Problem . . . . . . . . . . 118
9.1.1 Single Period Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
9.1.2 Multi Period Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Contents xi

9.2 Numerical Experiments and Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

9.3 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
10 Conclusions and Future Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Chapter 1
Introduction to Optimization

1.1 What Is Optimization?

For almost all the human activities there is a desire to deliver the most with the
least. For example in the business point of view maximum profit is desired from
least investment; maximum number of crop yield is desired with minimum
investment on fertilizers; maximizing the strength, longevity, efficiency, utilization
with minimum initial investment and operational cost of various household as well
as industrial equipments and machineries. To set a record in a race, for example, the
aim is to do the fastest (shortest time).
The concept of optimization has great significance in both human affairs and the
laws of nature which is the inherent characteristic to achieve the best or most
favorable (minimum or maximum) from a given situation [1]. In addition, as the
element of design is present in all fields of human activity, all aspects of opti-
mization can be viewed and studied as design optimization without any loss of
generality. This makes it clear that the study of design optimization can help not
only in the human activity of creating optimum design of products, processes and
systems, but also in the understanding and analysis of mathematical/physical
phenomenon and in the solution of mathematical problems. The constraints are
inherent part if the real world problems and they have to be satisfied to ensure the
acceptability of the solution. There are always numerous requirements and con-
straints imposed on the designs of components, products, processes or systems in
real-life engineering practice, just as in all other fields of design activity. Therefore,
creating a feasible design under all these diverse requirements/constraints is already
a difficult task, and to ensure that the feasible design created is also ‘the best’ is
even more difficult.

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 1

A.J. Kulkarni et al., Cohort Intelligence: A Socio-inspired Optimization Method,
Intelligent Systems Reference Library 114, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-44254-9_1
2 1 Introduction to Optimization

1.1.1 General Problem Statement

All the optimal design problems can be expressed in a standard general form stated
as follows:

Minimize objective function f ðXÞ ð1:1Þ

Subject to

s number of inequality constraints gj ðXÞ  0; j ¼ 1; 2; . . .; s ð1:2Þ

w number of equality constraints hj ðXÞ ¼ 0 ; j ¼ 1; 2; . . .; w ð1:3Þ

where the number of

design variables is given by xi ;
i ¼ 1; 2; . . .; n
8 9
> x1 >
< x2 >
> =
or by design variable vector X¼ ..
> >
: . >
> ;
xn

• A problem where the objective function is to be maximized (instead of mini-

mized) can also be handled with this standard problem statement since maxi-
mization of a function f ðXÞ is the same as minimizing the negative of f ðXÞ.
• Similarly, the ‘≥’ type of inequality constraints can be treated by reversing the
sign of the constraint function to form the ‘≤’ type of inequality.
• Sometimes there may be simple limits on the allowable range of value a design
variable can take, and these are known as side constraints:

xli  xi  xui

• where xli and xui are the lower and upper limits of xi , respectively. However,
these side constraints can be easily converted into the normal inequality con-
straints (by splitting them into 2 inequality constraints).
• Although all optimal design problems can be expressed in the above standard
form, some categories of problems may be expressed in alternative specialized
forms for greater convenience and efficiency.
1.1 What Is Optimization? 3

1.1.2 Active/Inactive/Violated Constraints

The constraints in an optimal design problem restrict the entire design space into
smaller subset known as the feasible region, i.e. not every point in the design space
is feasible. See Fig. 1.1.
• An inequality constraint gj ðXÞ is said to be violated at the point x if it is not
 
satisfied there gj ðXÞ  0 .
 
• If gj ðXÞ is strictly satisfied gj ðXÞ\0 then it is said to be inactive at x.
 
• If gj ðXÞ is satisfied at equality gj ðXÞ ¼ 0 then it is said to be active at x.
• The set of points at which an inequality constraint is active forms a constraint
boundary which separates the feasibility region of points from the infeasible
region.
• Based
 on the
 above definitions,
 equality
 constraints can only be either violated
hj ðXÞ 6¼ 0 or active hj ðXÞ ¼ 0 at any point x.
• The set of points where an equality constraint is active forms a sort of boundary
both sides of which are infeasible.

1.1.3 Global and Local Minimum Points

Let the set of design variables that give rise to a minimum of the objective function
f ðXÞ be denoted by X (the asterisk  is used to indicate quantities and terms
referring to an optimum point). An objective GðXÞ is at its global (or absolute)
minimum at the point X if:

f ðX Þ  f ðXÞ for all X in the feasible region

x2
x2

xc xa xa
xb
xb
0
)=
(x
g3

x1 x1
g 2(

0 h1 (x)
= =0
x)

x)
1(
=0

Fig. 1.1 Active/Inactive/Violated constraints

4 1 Introduction to Optimization

f(x)
global maximum

local maximum

local minimum
a local maximum b x
constraint boundary

constraint boundary
local minimum

global minimum

Fig. 1.2 Minimum and maximum points

The objective has a local (or relative) minimum at the point X if:

f ðX Þ  f ðXÞ for all feasible X

within a small neighborhood of X

A graphical representation of these concepts is shown in Fig. 1.2 for the case of
a single variable x over a closed feasible region a  x  b.

1.2 Contemporary Optimization Approaches

There are several mathematical optimization techniques being practiced so far, for
example gradient methods, Integer Programming, Branch and Bound, Simplex
algorithm, dynamic programming, etc. These techniques can efficiently solve the
problems with limited size. Also, they could be more applicable to solve linear
problems. In addition, as the number of variables and constraints increase, the
computational time to solve the problem, may increase exponentially. This may
limit their applicability. Furthermore, as the complexity of the problem domain is
increasing solving such complex problems using the mathematical optimization
techniques is becoming more and more cumbersome. In addition, certain heuristics
have been developed to solve specific problem with certain size. Such heuristics
have very limited flexibility to solve different class of problems.
In past few years a number of nature-/bio-inspired optimization techniques (also
referred to as metaheuristics) such as Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs), Swarm
Intelligence (SI), etc. have been developed. The EA such as Genetic Algorithm
(GA) works on the principle of Darwinian theory of survival of the fittest individual
1.2 Contemporary Optimization Approaches 5

in the population. The population is evolved using the operators such as selection,
crossover, mutation, etc. According to Deb [2] and Ray et al. [3], GA can often
reach very close to the global optimal solution and necessitates local improvement
techniques to incorporate into it. Similar to GA, mutation driven approach of
Differential Evolution (DE) was proposed by Storn and Price [4] which helps
explore and further locally exploit the solution space to reach the global optimum.
Although, easy to implement, there are several problem dependent parameters
required to be tuned and may also require several associated trials to be performed.
Inspired from social behavior of living organisms such as insects, fishes, etc.
which can communicate with one another either directly or indirectly the paradigm
of SI is a decentralized self organizing optimization approach. These algorithms
work on the cooperating behavior of the organisms rather than competition amongst
them. In SI, every individual evolves itself by sharing the information from others
in the society. The techniques such as Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is
inspired from the social behavior of bird flocking and school of fish searching for
food [4]. The fishes or birds are considered as particles in the solution space
searching for the local as well as global optimum points. The directions of
movements of these particles are decided by the best particle in the neighborhood
and the best particle in entire swarm. The Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) works
on the ants’ social behavior of foraging food following a shortest path [5]. The ant is
considered as an agent of the colony. It searches for the better solution in its close
neighborhood and iteratively updates its solution. The ants also updates their
pheromone trails at the end of every iteration. This helps every ant decide their
directions which may further self organize them to reach to the global optimum.
Similar to ACO, the Bee Algorithm (BA) also works on the social behavior of
honey bees finding the food; however, the bee colony tends to optimize the use of
number of members involved in particular pre-decided tasks [6]. The Bees
Algorithm is a population-based search algorithm proposed by Pham et al. [7] in a
technical report presented at the Cardiff University, UK. It basically mimics the
food foraging behavior of honey bees. According to Pham and Castellani [8] and
Pham et al. [7], Bees Algorithm mimics the foraging strategy of honey bees which
look for the best solution. Each candidate solution is thought of as a flower or a
food source, and a population or colony of n bees is used to search the problem
solution space. Each time an artificial bee visits a solution, it evaluates its objective
solution. Even though it has been proven to be effective solving continuous as well
as combinatorial problems Pham and Castellani [8, 9], some measure of the
topological distance between the solutions is required. The Firefly Algorithm
(FA) is an emerging metaheuristic swarm optimization technique based on the
natural behavior of fireflies. The natural behavior of fireflies is based on biolumi-
nescence phenomenon [10, 11]. They produce short and rhythmic flashes to
communicate with other fireflies and attract potential prey. The light
intensity/brightness
 I of the flash at a distance r obeys inverse square law, i.e.
I / 1 r2 in addition to the light absorption by surrounding air. This makes most of
6 1 Introduction to Optimization

the fireflies visible only till a limited distance, usually several hundred meters at
night, which is enough to communicate. The flashing light of fireflies can be for-
mulated in such a way that it is associated with the objective function to be opti-
mized, which makes it possible to formulate optimization algorithms [10, 11].
Similar to the other metaheuristic algorithms constraint handling is one of crucial
issues being addressed by researchers [12].

1.3 Socio-Inspired Optimization Domain

Every society is a collection of self interested individuals. Every individual has a

desire to improve itself. The improvement is possible through learning from one
another. Furthermore, the learning is achieved through interaction as well as
competition with the individuals. It is important to mention here that this learning
may lead to quick improvement in the individual’s behavior; however, it is also
possible that for certain individuals the learning and further improvement is slower.
This is because the learning and associated improvement depend upon the quality
of the individual being followed. In the context of optimization (minimization and
maximization) if the individual solution being followed is better, the chances of
improving the follower individual solution increases. Due to uncertainty, this is also
possible that the individual solution being followed may be of inferior quality as
compared to the follower candidate. This may make the follower individual solution
to reach a local optimum; however, due to inherent ability of societal individuals to
keep improving itself other individuals are also selected for learning. This may
make the individuals further jump out of the possible local optimum and reach the
global optimum solution. This common goal of improvement in the
behavior/solution reveals the self organizing behavior of the entire society. This is
an effective self organizing system which may help in solving a variety of complex
optimization problems.
The following chapters discuss an emerging Artificial Intelligence
(AI) optimization technique referred to as Cohort Intelligence (CI). The framework
of CI along with its validation by solving several unconstrained test problems is
discussed in detail. In addition, numerous applications of CI methodology and its
modified versions in the domain of machine learning are provided. Moreover, the
CI application for solving several test cases of the combinatorial problems such as
Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) and 0–1 Knapsack Problem are discussed.
Importantly, CI methodology solving real world combinatorial problems from the
healthcare and inventory problem domain, as well as complex and large sized
Cross-Border transportation problems is also discussed. These applications under-
score the importance of the Socio-inspired optimization method such as CI.
References 7

References

1. Kulkarni, A.J., Tai, K., Abraham, A.: Probability collectives: a distributed multi-agent system
approach for optimization. In: Intelligent Systems Reference Library, vol. 86. Springer, Berlin
(2015) (doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16000-9, ISBN: 978-3-319-15999-7)
2. Deb, K.: An efficient constraint handling method for genetic algorithms. Comput. Methods
Appl. Mech. Eng. 186, 311–338 (2000)
3. Ray, T., Tai, K., Seow, K.C.: Multiobjective design optimization by an evolutionary
algorithm. Eng. Optim. 33(4), 399–424 (2001)
4. Storn, R., Price, K.: Differential evolution—a simple and efficient heuristic for global
optimization over continuous spaces. J. Global Optim. 11, 341–359 (1997)
5. Kennedy, J., Eberhart, R.: Particle swarm optimization. In: Proceedings of IEEE International
Conference on Neural Networks, pp. 1942–1948 (1995)
6. Dorigo, M., Birattari, M., Stitzle, T.: Ant colony optimization: artificial ants as a
computational intelligence technique. IEEE Comput. Intell. Mag., 28–39 (2006)
7. Pham, D.T., Ghanbarzadeh, A., Koc, E., Otri, S., Rahim, S., Zaidi, M.: The bees algorithm.
Technical Note, Manufacturing Engineering Centre, Cardiff University, UK (2005)
8. Pham, D.T., Castellani, M.: The bees algorithm—modelling foraging behaviour to solve
continuous optimisation problems. Proc. ImechE, Part C, 223(12), 2919–2938 (2009)
9. Pham, D.T., Castellani, M.: Benchmarking and comparison of nature-inspired
population-based continuous optimisation algorithms. Soft Comput. 1–33 (2013)
10. Yang, X.S.: Firefly algorithms for multimodal optimization. In: Stochastic Algorithms:
Foundations and Applications. Lecture Notes in Computer Sciences 5792, pp. 169–178.
Springer, Berlin (2009)
11. Yang, X.S., Hosseini, S.S.S., Gandomi, A.H.: Firefly Algorithm for solving non-convex
economic dispatch problems with valve loading effect. Appl. Soft Comput. 12(3), 1180–1186
(2002)
12. Deshpande, A.M., Phatnani, G.M., Kulkarni, A.J.: Constraint handling in firefly algorithm. In:
Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Cybernetics, pp. 186–190 (2013)
Chapter 2
Socio-Inspired Optimization Using Cohort
Intelligence

The nature-/bio-inspired optimization techniques such as genetic algorithm (GA),

particle swarm optimization (PSO), ant colony optimization (ACO), simulated
annealing (SA), Tabu search, etc., have become popular due to their simplicity to
implement and working based on rules. The GA is population based which is
evolved using the operators such as selection, crossover, mutation, etc. According
to Deb [1] and Ray et al. [2] the performance of GA is governed by the quality of
the population being evaluated and may often reach very close to the global optimal
solution and necessitates local improvement techniques to incorporate into it. The
paradigm of Swarm Intelligence (SI) is a decentralized self organizing optimization
approach inspired from social behavior of living organisms such as insects, fishes,
etc. which can communicate with one another either directly or indirectly. The
techniques such as Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is inspired from the social
behavior of bird flocking and school of fish searching for food [3]. The Ant Colony
Optimization (ACO) works on the ants’ social behavior of foraging food following
a shortest path [4]. Similar to ACO, the Bee Algorithm (BA) also works on the
social behavior of honey bees finding the food; however, the bee colony tends to
optimize the use of number of members involved in particular pre-decided tasks [5].
Generally, the swarm techniques are computationally intensive.
Kulkarni et al. [6] proposed an emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI) technique
referred to as Cohort Intelligence (CI). It is inspired from the self-supervised
learning behavior of the candidates in a cohort. The cohort here refers to a group of
candidates interacting and competing with one another to achieve some individual
goal which is inherently common to all the candidates. When working in a cohort,
every candidate tries to improve its own behavior by observing the behavior of
every other candidate in that cohort. Every candidate may follow a certain behavior
in the cohort which according to itself may result into improvement in its own
behavior. As certain qualities make a particular behavior which, when a candidate
follows, it actually tries to adapt to the associated qualities. This makes every
candidate learn from one another and helps the overall cohort behavior to evolve.
The cohort behavior could be considered saturated, if for considerable number of
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 9
A.J. Kulkarni et al., Cohort Intelligence: A Socio-inspired Optimization Method,
Intelligent Systems Reference Library 114, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-44254-9_2
10 2 Socio-Inspired Optimization Using Cohort Intelligence

learning attempts the individual behavior of all the candidates does not improve
considerably and candidates’ behaviors become hard to distinguish. The cohort
could be assumed to become successful when for a considerable number of times
the cohort behavior saturates to the same behavior.
This chapter discusses the CI methodology framework in detail and further
validates its ability by solving a variety of unconstrained test problems. This
demonstrates its strong potential of being applicable for solving unimodal as well as
multimodal problems.

2.1 Framework of Cohort Intelligence

Consider a general unconstrained problem (in the minimization sense) as follows:

Minimize f ðxÞ ¼ f ðx1 ; . . .xi ; . . .; xn Þ

ð2:1Þ
Subject to Wlower
i  xi  Wupper
i ; i ¼ 1; . . .; N

As a general case, assume the objective function f ðxÞ as the behavior of an

individual candidate in the cohort which it naturally tries to enrich by modifying the
associated set of characteristics/attributes/qualities x ¼ ðx1 ; . . .xi ; . . .; xN Þ.
Having considered a cohort with number of candidates C, every individual
candidate c ðc ¼ 1; . . .; C Þ belongs a set of characteristics/attributes/qualities xc ¼

c 
x1 ; . . .xci ; . . .; xcN which makes the overall quality of its behavior f ðxc Þ. The
individual behavior of each candidate c is generally being observed by itself and
every other candidate ðcÞ in the cohort. This naturally urges every candidate c to
follow the behavior better than its current behavior. More specifically, candidate



c may follow f  xðcÞ if it is better than f  ðxc Þ, i.e. f  xðcÞ \f  ðxc Þ. Importantly,
following a behavior f ðxÞ refers to following associated qualities x ¼
ðx1 ; . . .xi ; . . .; xN Þ with certain variations t associated with them. However, fol-
lowing better behavior and associated qualities is highly uncertain. This is because;
there is certain probability involved by which it selects certain behavior to follow.
In addition, a stage may come where the cohort behavior could become saturated. In
other words, at a certain stage, there could be no improvement in the behavior of an
individual candidate for a considerable number of learning attempts. Such situation
is referred to as saturation stage. This makes every candidate to expand its search
around the qualities associated with the current behavior being followed. The
mathematical formulation of the CI methodology is explained below in detail with
the algorithm flowchart in Fig. 2.1 [6, 7].
The procedure begins with the initialization of number of candidates C, sam-
pling interval Wi for each quality xi ; i ¼ 1; . . .; N, learning attempt counter n ¼ 1,
and the setup of sampling interval reduction factor r 2 ½0; 1, convergence param-
eter e ¼ 0:0001, number of variations t. The values of C; t and m are chosen based
on preliminary trials of the algorithm.
2.1 Framework of Cohort Intelligence 11

START

Initialize number of candidates C in the cohort,

quality variations t, and set up interval reduction

The probability associated with the behavior being

followed by every candidate in the cohort is calculated

Using roulette wheel approach every candidate selects

behavior to follow from within the C available choices

Every candidate shrinks/expands the sampling interval

of every quality i based on whether condition of
saturation is satisfied

Every candidate forms t behaviors by sampling the

qualities from within the updated sampling intervals

Every candidate follows the best behavior from within

its t behaviors

N Cohort behavior
saturated?

Y
N
Convergence ?

Accept the current

cohort behavior as
final solution

STOP

Fig. 2.1 Cohort intelligence (CI) flowchart

12 2 Socio-Inspired Optimization Using Cohort Intelligence

Step 1. The probability of selecting the behavior f  ðxc Þ of every associated

candidate c ðc ¼ 1; . . .; C Þ is calculated as follows:

1=f  ðxc Þ
pc ¼ PC ; ðc ¼ 1; . . .; CÞ ð2:2Þ
 c
c¼1 1=f ðx Þ

Step 2. Every candidate c ðc ¼ 1; . . .; C Þ generates a random number r 2 ½0; 1

and using a roulette wheel approach decides to follow corresponding 

 c½? c½? c½?
behavior f  xc½? and associated qualities xc½? ¼ x1 ; . . .xi ; . . .; xN .
The superscript ½? indicates that the behavior is selected by candidate
c and not known in advance. The roulette wheel approach could be most
appropriate as it provides chance to every behavior in the cohort to get
selected purely based on its quality. In addition, it also may increase the
chances of any candidate to select the better behavior as the associated
probability stake pc ðc ¼ 1; . . .; CÞ presented in Eq. (2.2) in the interval
½0; 1 is directly proportional to the quality of the behavior f  ðxc Þ. In other
words, better the solution, higher is the probability of being followed by
the candidates in the cohort.
Step 3. Every candidate c ðc ¼ 1; . . .; C Þ shrinks the sampling interval Wc½? ; i ¼
i
c½?
1; . . .; N associated with every variable xi ; i ¼ 1; . . .; N to its local
neighborhood. This is done as follows:
h i
c½? c½? c½?
Wi 2 xi  ðkWi k=2Þ; xi þ ðkWi k=2Þ ð2:3Þ

where Wi ¼ ðkWi kÞ  r.
Step 4. Each candidate c ðc ¼ 1; . . .; CÞ samples t qualities from within the
c½?
updated sampling interval Wi ; i ¼ 1; . . .; N associated with every
c½?
variable xi n ; i ¼ 1; . . .; N and computes
o a set of associated t behaviors,
i.e. Fc;t
¼ f ðx Þ ; . . .; f ðxc Þ j ; . . .; f ðxc Þt , and selects the best function
c 1

f  ðxc Þ from within. This makes the cohort is available withC updated
behaviors represented as FC ¼ f  ðx1 Þ; . . .; f  ðxc Þ; . . .; f  ðxC Þ .
Step 5. The cohort behavior could be considered saturated, if there is no
significant improvement in the behavior f  ðxc Þ of every candidate
c ðc ¼ 1; . . .; CÞ in the cohort, and the difference between the individual
behaviors is not very significant for successive considerable number of
learning attempts, i.e. if

n
n1 
 
1. max FC max FC   e, and

C n
C n1 
 
2. min F min F   e, and
2.1 Framework of Cohort Intelligence 13


n
n 
3. max FC min FC   e, every candidate c ðc ¼ 1; . . .; CÞ
c½?
expands the sampling interval Wi ; i ¼ 1; . . .; N associated with
c½ ? 
every quality xi ; i ¼ 1; . . .; N to its original one
upper
Wlower
i  x i  Wi ; i ¼ 1; . . .; N.
Step 6. If either of the two criteria listed below is valid, accept any of the C
behaviors from current set of behaviors in the cohort as the final objective
function value f  ðxÞ as the final solution and stop, else continue to Step 1.
(a) If maximum number of attempts exceeded.
(b) If cohort saturates to the same behavior (satisfying the conditions in
Step 5) for smax times.

2.2 Theoretical Comparison with Contemporary

Techniques

Particle swarm optimization PSO is a population-based stochastic search algorithm

developed by Kennedy and Eberhart [3]. Due to its simple concept, it has been
applied to many optimization problems. The PSO itself did not work well in solving
constrained problems [8]. To overcome this shortcoming, many modified PSO
techniques such as Quantum-behaved PSO [9], Improved Vector PSO (IVPSO)
[10] and other techniques which controlled the velocity of the swarm were used. All
these techniques depend upon the control parameters in the velocity updating
model, which are the inertia weight and acceleration coefficients. Another technique
referred to as the Barebones PSO (BPSO) [11] used Gaussian normal distribution to
update the values of the particles in the solution. This removed the necessity of
inertia weight and acceleration coefficients. In the PSO variations the entire swarm
has a collective intelligence. While the individual particle keeps track of its own
best solution, every particle in the swarm is also aware of the best solution found by
the entire swarm [3]. The movement of each particle is some function of this
individual best and the group’s best values. The Fully Informed PSO (FIPSO) is
one technique that does not merely depend on the best solution offered globally.
This technique samples the solutions offered by its entire neighborhood and follows
a point in space that is calculated using this complete information [12].
Another technique popular today is the Genetic Algorithm (GA). This technique
follows the principle of survival of the fittest. The best solutions in a particular
generation are taken forward to the next one, and new solutions are generated by
using crossover as well as applying mutations on it. Ant Colony optimization
(ACO) [4, 13] follows autocatalytic behavior which is characterized by a positive
feedback, where the probability with which an agent chooses a path increases with
14 2 Socio-Inspired Optimization Using Cohort Intelligence

the number of agents that previously chose the same path [14]. However it is
difficult to solve continuous optimization problem using ACO directly, as there are
limitations in number of choices for ants at each stage. Some recent research has
extended classical ACO to solve continuous optimization problem.
In CI, however, the collective effort of the swarm is replaced by the competitive
nature of a cohort. Every candidate tries to follow the behavior of a candidate that
has shown better results in that particular iteration. In following this behavior, it
tries to incorporate some of the qualities that made that behavior successful. This
competitive behavior motivates each candidate to perform better, and leads to an
eventual improvement in the behaviors of all the candidates. This technique differs
from PSO and barebones PSO in that it does not check merely the best solution, but
is fully informed of the activities of its fellow candidates and follows a candidate
selected using the roulette wheel approach. However, it is also different from the
FIPSO which keeps track of the entire swarm in that it follows the behavior of only
one candidate, not a resultant of the results presented by the entire swarm. CI also
differs from GA, as there is no direct exchange of certain properties or even
mutation. Rather, candidates decide to follow a fellow candidate, and try to imbibe
the qualities that led that candidate to reach its solution. The values of these
qualities are not replicated exactly. They are instead taken from a close neighbor-
hood of the values of the qualities of the candidate being followed. This gives a
variation in the solutions obtained and this is how the cohort can avoid getting
trapped in local minima. CI differs from ACO as the autocatalytic nature of the ants
is replaced by competitive nature of the cohorts. Instead of having tendency to
follow most followed behavior, candidates in CI try to incorporate the best behavior
in every iteration. This prevents the algorithm from getting caught into local
minima by not relying on the behavior that is locally optimal. The CI algorithm has
shown itself to be comparable to the best results obtained from the various tech-
niques. The sharing of the best solution among candidates in CI gives a direction for
all the candidates to move towards, but the independent search of each candidate
ensures that the candidates come out of local minima to get the best solutions.

2.3 Validation of Cohort Intelligence

The performance of the proposed CI algorithm was tested by solving unconstrained

well known test problems such as Ackley, Dixon and Price, Griewank, Hartmann,
Levy, Michalewicz, Perm, Powell, Powersum, Rastrigin, Schwefel, Sphere,
Sum Square, Trid, Zakhrov, etc. with different problem sizes. The algorithm was
coded in MATLAB 7.8.0 (R2009A) on Windows platform using Intel Core 2 Duo
T6570, 2.10 GHz processor speed and 2 GB RAM. Every test problem was solved
20 times with number of candidates C, number of variations in the behavior
t chosen as 5 and 7, respectively. The values of the reduction factor r chosen for
2.3 Validation of Cohort Intelligence 15

Table 2.1 Summary of unconstrained test problem solutions with 5 variables

Problem True CI Function Standard Time
optimum algorithm evaluations deviation (s)
Best
Mean
Worst
Ackley 0.0000 2.04E−10 43,493 1.06E−08 1.42
5.58E−09
2.70E−08
Dixon and 0.0000 9.86E−32 82,770 4.28E−09 1.83
Price 1.43E−09
4.28E−09
Griewank 0.0000 0.00E+00 163,485 9.73E−03 5.15
1.80E−02
3.70E−02
Levy 0.0000 1.28E−21 38,993 7.70E−20 1.43
6.22E−20
2.18E−19
Michalewicz −4.687658 −3.96E+00 188,700 3.61E−01 5.61
−3.40E+00
−2.80E+00
Perm 0.0000 4.20E−01 225,960 2.79E+00 8.07
2.82E+00
9.83E+00
Powell 0.0000 8.73E−09 162,510 5.54E−06 5.65
2.31E−06
1.88E−05
Rastrigin 0.0000 9.95E−01 277,440 4.91E−01 5.99
1.50E+00
2.00E+00
Schwefel 0.0000 2.83E−06 1,570,718 1.70E−06 38.73
6.03E−06
8.86E−06
Sphere 0.0000 2.69E−29 12,345 5.84E−29 0.35
1.58E−28
2.55E−28
Sum Square 0.0000 1.56E−18 7470 1.37E−18 0.22
2.96E−18
6.70E−18
Zakhrov 0.0000 8.38E−19 7470 6.62E−19 0.23
1.95E−18
3.20E−18

every unconstrained test problem are listed in Table 2.6. These parameters were
derived empirically over numerous experiments.
The CI performance solving a variety of unconstrained test problems is pre-
sented in Tables 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5 with increase in the number of variables
16 2 Socio-Inspired Optimization Using Cohort Intelligence

Table 2.2 Summary of unconstrained test problem solutions with 10 variables

Problem True CI Function Standard Time
optimum algorithm evaluations deviation (s)
Best
Mean
Worst
Ackley 0.0000 8.97E−08 30,765 3.60E−07 1.39
4.58E−07
9.30E−07
Dixon and 0.0000 6.67E−01 359,640 1.48E−14 12.11
Price 6.67E−01
6.67E−01
Griewank 0.0000 7.48E−03 432,368 1.18E−02 17.49
2.50E−02
4.68E−02
Levy 0.0000 2.02E−06 44,798 2.78E−06 2.29
7.34E−06
1.12E−05
Powell 0.0000 7.73E−06 186,570 7.29E−05 9.46
6.28E−05
2.13E−04
Rastrigin 0.0000 6.96E+00 261,998 2.31E+00 10.04
1.06E+01
1.49E+01
Rosenbrock 0.0000 0.0000E 13,605 0.0000E+00 0.49
+00
0.0000E
+00
0.0000E
+00
Schwefel 0.0000 1.20E−06 2,023,103 1.66E−07 84.55
1.52E−06
1.74E−06
Sphere 0.0000 7.17E−22 18,668 2.73E−22 0.76
9.47E−22
1.62E−21
Sum Square 0.0000 1.32E−16 14,948 6.58E−15 0.61
2.37E−15
2.21E−14
Zakhrov 0.0000 3.22E−12 22,365 1.24E−12 0.90
5.15E−12
6.68E−12

associated with the individual problem. It is observed that with increase in number
of variables, the computational cost, i.e. function evaluations and computational
time was increased. However, the small standard deviation values for all the
2.3 Validation of Cohort Intelligence 17

Table 2.3 Summary of unconstrained test problem solutions with 20 variables

Problem True CI Function Standard Time
optimum algorithm evaluations deviation (s)
Best
Mean
Worst
Ackley 0.0000 2.97E−11 329,745 7.88E−11 21.87
6.04E−11
2.96E−10
Dixon and 0.0000 7.47E−01 358,800 2.31E−02 20.65
Price 7.77E−01
8.22E−01
Griewank 0.0000 0.00E+00 187,763 2.22E−03 14.00
7.40E−04
7.40E−03
Levy 0.0000 7.31E−15 329,768 3.28E−13 27.01
1.73E−13
8.79E−13
Powell 0.0000 8.46E−05 539,640 8.02E−05 44.86
2.18E−04
3.60E−04
Rastrigin 0.0000 2.19E+01 408,758 7.87E+00 24.60
3.88E+01
5.57E+01
Rosenbrock 0.0000 0.00E+00 17,288 7.92E−30 1.01
3.96E−30
1.98E−29
Schwefel 0.0000 4.38E−06 2,023,950 5.03E−07 134.37
5.56E−06
6.12E−06
Sphere 0.0000 6.22E−14 26,183 1.11E−14 1.78
7.60E−14
9.40E−14
Sum Square 0.0000 8.88E−11 37,335 5.17E−10 2.50
3.78E−10
1.88E−09
Zakhrov 0.0000 1.00E−06 37,290 1.08E−06 2.53
2.19E−06
4.97E−06

functions independent of the number of variables highlighted its robustness. The

effect of CI parameters such as number of candidates C, reduction rate r and number
of variations in behavior t was also analyzed on unimodal as well as multimodal
18 2 Socio-Inspired Optimization Using Cohort Intelligence

Table 2.4 Summary of unconstrained test problem solutions with 30 variables

Problem True CI Function Standard Time
optimum algorithm evaluations deviation (s)
Best
Mean
Worst
Ackley 0.0000 1.59E−07 299,835 6.41E−07 28.91
5.91E−07
1.79E−06
Dixon and 0.0000 9.89E−01 357,413 7.25E−02 29.07
Price 1.10E+00
1.23E+00
Griewank 0.0000 2.90E−06 398,918 2.86E−03 39.91
1.82E−03
7.57E−03
Levy 0.0000 4.89E−07 674,363 9.15E−05 80.24
4.62E−05
2.47E−04
Powell 0.0000 7.23E−02 743,595 1.23E−01 89.86
1.84E−01
4.23E−01
Rastrigin 0.0000 5.57E+01 296,745 1.41E+01 26.40
8.77E+01
1.00E+02
Rosenbrock 0.0000 0.00E+00 19,470 1.44E−29 1.58
7.22E−30
3.61E−29
Schwefel 0.0000 1.06E−05 2,023,290 8.74E−07 180.62
1.20E−05
1.37E−05
Sphere 0.0000 1.91E−13 26,235 7.38E−14 2.51
2.66E−13
4.51E−13
Sum Square 0.0000 1.28E−10 55,433 3.79E−04 5.23
2.52E−04
9.75E−04
Zakhrov 0.0000 1.63E−04 221,798 3.03E−04 20.98
6.93E−04
1.15E−03

functions. The effect is visible in Fig. 2.3 where effect of these parameters on
Sphere function and Ackley Function is presented as a representative to unimodal
and multimodal function, respectively. The visualization for the convergence of the
2.3 Validation of Cohort Intelligence 19

Table 2.5 Summary of solution to Powersum, Hartmann and Trid function

Problem No of True CI Function Standard Time
variables optimum algorithm evaluations deviation (s)
Best
Mean
Worst
Powersum 4 0.0000 1.38E 619,125 4.44E-05 17.48
−06
6.74E
−05
1.34E
−04
Hartmann 6 −3.86278 −3.32E 710,483 1.67E-03 31.53
+00
−3.32E
+00
−3.32E
+00
Trid 6 −50.0000 −4.87E 177,090 4.92E-03 4.27
+01
−4.87E
+01
−4.87E
+01

representative Ackley function is presented in Fig. 2.2 for learning attempts 1, 10,
15 and 30. For both types of functions, the computational cost, i.e. function eval-
uations and computational time was observed to be increasing linearly with
increasing number of candidates C (refer to Fig. 2.3a, b) as well as number of
variations in behavior t (refer to Fig. 2.3e, f, k and l). This was because, with
increase in number of candidates, number of behavior choices i.e. function evalu-
ations also increased. Moreover, with fewer number of candidates C, the quality of
the solution at the end of first learning attempt referred to as initial solution as well
as the converged solution were quite close to each other and importantly, the
converged solutions and the converged solution was suboptimal. The quality of
both the solutions improved with increase in number of candidates C. This was
because fewer number of behavior choices were available with fewer number of
candidates, whereas with increase in number of candidates the total choice of
behavior also increased as a result initial solution worsened whereas converged
solution improved as sufficient time was provided for saturation. Due to this a
widening gap between initial solution and converged solution was observed in the
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and particularly such as lean towards pessimism, should be avoided.
Although as a general proposition it is unquestionably true that
universal corruption would mean social disintegration, extreme
caution should be employed before venturing such a prediction in a
given case. Prophecies of this character have been made in almost
countless numbers and in almost every age and country. In the
overwhelming majority of cases they have been falsified by
subsequent events. It is easy to underestimate the essential strength
of the more fundamental social institutions and to forget the long
course of evolution during which they have become delicately
adapted to human needs. So far as the more progressive countries
of the modern world are concerned,—England, France, Germany,
Austria, Italy, no less than the United States,—there would seem to
be ground for the conclusion that political and social corruption is
decreasing in extent and virulence. At bottom government rests as
much upon confidence as does a savings bank. Now in spite of the
current and very pointed query:—“Where did he get it?”—the
greatest harm done by corruption is not that it enables some men to
acquire fortune and power rapidly at the expense of others.
Resentment at the constant repetition of this spectacle is natural,
and the influence which it exerts as a bad example is most
deplorable. But far in excess of this is the evil which corruption
inflicts by destroying the confidence of men in their social institutions.
In the field of politics this evil is particularly great because of the wide
extension of governmental functions in recent times and the great
possibilities which might be realised by further extensions. To cite
tangible examples, it is both exasperating and dangerous that much
needed plans for the building of a school, hospital, asylum,
sewerage system, or a State Capitol, or for the establishment of
departments of inspection to supervise industrial plants, theatres, or
tenement houses, should be halted by the fear that corrupt interests
will take an initial toll out of the expenses of installation and
thereafter seek to pervert these services to their private advantage.
Just so far as this retarding condition exists the state is prevented
from realising its present possibilities and from undertaking other
beneficent work which it might perform particularly in the fields of
education, art, sanitation, and philanthropy. Yet in spite of this heavy
drag the more progressive modern states are extending their
functions and, on the whole, giving better satisfaction to the needs of
larger populations than ever before. Petty principalities and the city
states of former times have passed away forever. The dominant
modern national type of state stands for populations that must be
reckoned by tens of millions.
Even more significant than growth in population and territory,
however, is the growth that has taken place in the number and
complexity of political and other social relationships. It is true that far
back in antiquity there were great and powerful despotisms, but they
were held together largely by the strong hand, and, as compared
with modern governments, performed very few services for their
peoples. Within recent times inventions annihilating time and space
have brought men closer together but they would not cohere as they
do in government, in business, and in other social activities, were the
requisite moral factors not present. Civilisation has developed these
factors, but at the same time, unfortunately, a new breed of parasites
has come into existence to destroy in part the fruits of our more
intelligent, more honest, and better equipped labour. Vigorous
fighting is necessary to limit the damage inflicted by the type of
social marauder which Professor Ross so trenchantly describes,
—“the respectable, exemplary, trusted personage who, strategically
placed at the focus of a spider web of fiduciary relations, is able from
his office chair to pick a thousand pockets, poison a thousand sick,
pollute a thousand minds, or imperil a thousand lives.”[115] With full
recognition of the danger threatening our highly specialised society
from resourceful enemies of this character there is still another
aspect of the case which should not be forgotten. One must learn “to
look at the doughnut as well as the hole.” While insisting upon the
enormity of the offences committed by our modern social pirates let
us not ignore the significance of the multiplication of foci strategically
placed within the spider webs of fiduciary relations. If social trusts
were habitually betrayed they could not increase in number and
importance. Such enormous and complex aggregations as are
brought together under modern governments, for example, mean
that men numbered on the scale of millions are convinced of the
substantial fidelity to their deepest interests of the governmental
structures to which they acknowledge allegiance. If this were not the
case, if corruption and other abuses infected governments to such
an extent as to render them unfaithful to their peoples, disloyalty
would take the place of loyalty, disintegration would succeed
integration. No doubt many causes besides those mentioned
conspired to bring about the appearance of the large, potent, and
complex units which now prevail in government. While this process
was being accomplished various hostile conditions had to be
attacked, of which corruption was only one, although one of the most
threatening. As these unfavourable conditions were and are being
overcome it is safe to conclude, in spite of all superficial
appearances to the contrary, that the relative extent and harmfulness
of corruption are decreasing in the more progressive modern
countries. A similar line of argument supports the same conclusion
with regard to business institutions, which also have been increasing
both in size, complexity, and the importance of the functions which
they perform. The household industry of a few generations ago has
given way to corporations employing their tens of thousands of men,
trusting them with property worth millions, and, particularly in
transportation, with the safety of myriads of lives. Such
developments would be impossible either in politics or in business
without greater intelligence, a greater degree of fair dealing, and
greater confidence and loyalty from man to man. Corruption which
exalts the selfish interest above the general interest has doubtless
hindered, but it has not stopped, this process. Never before have
men co-operated on so large a scale and so honest a basis as here
and now. If corruption had really penetrated to the vitals of our
economic and governmental organisations this development could
not have taken place.

FINIS
 FOOTNOTES:
[104] Political Science Quarterly, vol. xix (1904), p. 676.
[105] G. Myers, “History of Tammany Hall,” p. 285.
[106] Mr. Ernest Poole under the title of “New Readers of the
News” in the American Magazine for November 1907, (65:41),
presents an extremely interesting study of the broadening power
of the press along this line.
[107] “The France of To-day,” pp. 223 et seq.
[108] As, e.g., fraudulent promotion, adulteration, the building of
unsanitary tenements, failure to provide proper safety devices in
theatres and factories or on railroads and steamships.
[109] Cf. Mr. Frederic C. Howe’s admirable article on “Graft in
England,” American Magazine, vol. lxiii (1907), p. 398.
[110] Nation, lxxxi (November 23, 1905), p. 422.
[111] Note, for example, the very different treatment of the
campaign contribution question in the two countries. It may be
conceded that America has much to learn from England with
regard to the control of election expenditures. On the side of
collections, however, it is notorious that in England both political
parties unblushingly barter titles for financial support. There is
something particularly despicable in this pollution of the “fountain
of honour” to procure campaign funds, yet on the rare occasions
when the matter is brought up in Parliament its discussion is
characterised by hilarity rather than by moral earnestness. In
American politics the corresponding evil is felt to be a scandal
and as such provokes not only the curative legislation discussed
in an earlier study but also much bitter and noisy denunciation.
[112] Any illusion as to the ease of restraining privilege in the
United States is likely to be speedily dispelled by the reading of
President Arthur T. Hadley’s masterly discussion in the
Independent of April 16, 1908, of “The Constitutional Position of
Property in America.”
[113] In “The Old Order Changeth,” American Magazine, lxvii
(1909), p. 219.
 [114] No political reform now before the American people
promises more beneficent results than the short ballot movement.
It advocates the principle “that democracy can reach more
efficient working through a drastic reduction in the present
number of officials selected by the individual voter, thus securing
a ballot which is very short and which includes only offices that
are of sufficient public interest to attract from the voters a scrutiny
and comparison of candidates that will be adequate to make their
relative individual merits a matter of common knowledge.” Cf. the
vigorous little pamphlet by Richard S. Childs on “The Short Ballot:
A New Plan of Reform,” reprinted from the Outlook of July 17,
1909, New York, 127 Duane St., 1909.
[115] “Sin and Society,” pp. 29-30.
 INDEX

Adams, Professor Henry C., 110, 177.

Addams, Jane, 215.
Ade, George, 146.
Advantage, personal, the end of a corrupt act, 59, 60.
Alger, G. W., 70.
Allen, William H., 185.
American Bar Association, 121.
Anarchy, 17, 21, 29, 66, 82.
Anthracite coal committees, 34.
Apologies for political corruption, 3, 37.
Aquinas, Thomas, 70.
Aristotle, 87.
Association to Prevent Corrupt Practices at Elections, New York,
272.
“Auto-corruption,” 46, 60, 170, 199.

Bacon, Lord, 90.

Belmont, Perry, 239, 271.
“Big Business,” 115, 163.
Blackmail, 63.
Bodley, J. E. C., 71.
Bonaparte, Napoleon, 83.
Boss, The (see also Machine), 23, 26, 71, 73, 105, 240, 278, 279.
Bribery, 44, 49, 59.
Brinkley, Captain F., 102.
Bryce, James, 216.
Bureau of Corporations, 175.
Bureau of Municipal Research, 184.
Burke, Edmund, 213.
Business, alleged to be made good by corruption, 4-13;
and social morals, 67, 68, 75;
and politics, corruption in, 161;
state regulation of, 165, 171;
and campaign contributions, 264;
consolidation of, 163.
“Business administration” of public affairs, 46.

Campaign contributions, danger of plutocracy involved in, 71-74;

problem of, 76;
and theory of party support, 213;
congressional appropriations, 221;
publicity, 229;
prohibition and restriction of, 244;
from corporations, 244;
from candidates, 248;
from civil servants, 256;
from individuals, 258;
and campaign literature, 260;
in small amounts, 261;
time limits, 262;
geographical limits, 263;
and business interests, 264;
of services, 267;
in state and local contests, 268;
in primaries and conventions, 270;
results of reform, 273.
Candidates, corruption and personal immorality as
disqualifications, 15;
 and publicity, 240;
contributions of, 248.
Caritative function of the state, 70.

Carnegie Foundation, 138, 149.

Census statistics of cities, 186.
Charles II., 89.
Chicago, slaughter-house exposures, 163.
Childs, Richard S., 297.
China, 102.
Church, the, 31, 36, 47, 66, 69.
Citizenship, education for, 36.
Civil service, Great Britain, 95-98;
in police departments, 190;
spoils system, 218;
and campaign contributions, 256.
Class war, 21, 29;
social interest vs. class interest, 293.
Cleveland, Grover, 107.
Colleges and universities, 48, 132, 139, 143.
Commissions, Public Service, 175.
Commons, Professor John R., 29.
Competition, 162.
Congressional appropriations for campaign expenses, 221.
Consensus of moral opinion on corruption, 58.
Contractual nature of corrupt practices, 106.
Corporation campaign contributions, 244.
Corporations, Bureau of, 175.
Corruption, defined, 41-48;
distinguished from inefficiency, 48-51;
a persistent problem, 81;
limited to certain branches or spheres of government, 100-104;
contractual nature of, 106;
minor forms of, 113;
classification of forms of, 116;
in professional life, 177;
in politics and business, 161, 169;
international, 170;
and the party organisation, 201;
decreasing in progressive countries, 299.
Crime and vice, 186.
Curtis, George William, 128.

Democracy, the corrupt machine as the saviour of, 17;

oligarchy vs., 26;
as means of establishing community of interest among the
people, 30;
liability of, to corruption, 52, 54, 296.
“Democratic finance,” 182.
Democratic National Committee, Report 1908, 233;
time limit for contributions, 262.
Despotism, 51.
Dicey, Albert Venn, 175.
Dill, James B., 168.
Duty, political, 46, 51.

Eaton, Dorman B., 95-98, 205.

Economic evolution in relation to corruption, 52.
Economics, university instruction in, 139.
Education for citizenship, 36.
Efficiency, 14, 16.
England, 83, 95-98, 290, 295.
English Corrupt Practices Act, 248.
Europe, 30, 53, 74, 296.
Evolution, 22, 29, 33, 52.
Executive authorities, 56.

Family, the, 48, 66.

Finland, 83.
Fire departments, personnel of, 191.
Floquet, Charles, 71.
Folk, Joseph W., 64, 291.
Foote, Allen, Ripley, 197.
Ford, Professor Henry J., 17, 30, 57, 215, 219, 278.
Foreign vote in the United States, 31.
Franchises, Public Service, 11, 71, 73, 179.
Future, the social, 173.

Gambetta, Leon, 85.

“Gambling Commission,” New York, 106.
Gambling and vice, 6, 7, 8, 186.
Garfield Corrupt Practices Act, 249, 270.
George, Henry, 17.
Germany, 84, 85, 143, 290.
Ghent, W. J., 152.
Goodnow, Professor F. J., 9, 23, 25.
Graft, and other slang equivalents for corruption, 42.
Greece, 82.

Hadley, Arthur T., 266, 295.

Hapgood, Hutchins, 14.
Harvey, George, 131.
Hewitt, Abram S., 17.
Hobbes, Thomas, 82, 133.
Howard, C., 61.
Howe, Frederick C., 290, 295.

Immigrants, 31.
Inefficiency, 16, 48-51.
Intentional character of corruption, 48.
International corruption, 170.

Japan, 83, 102.

Journalism, 31, 121, 128, 279, 281, 284.
Judicial corruption, 56, 90, 92.
Justice, ideal of, 70.

Labour unions, 31;

leaders of, 14, 66.
Law, profession of, 121.
Legislation against corrupt practices (see also campaign
contributions), 75, 76.
Legislative corruption, 45, 56.

Machine, political (see also Boss, Party Organisation), 17, 20, 72.
Magee, Chris., 99.
Materialism, 53.
Mencius, 51.
Merriam, Professor C. E., 270.
Michels, Professor Robert, 179.
Mistresses, royal, 90.
Mob rule, 17, 66.
Monarchies, corruption in, as compared with democracies, 54.
Monopolies, contracting rings, 13;
era of consolidation, 163.
Moral uprisings, 188.
More, Paul Elmer, 153.
Muckraking, 281.
Municipal corruption, 83, 84, 98, 101, 184.
Municipal ownership, 13.
Municipal Research, Bureau of, 184.
Myers, Gustavus, 280.

Nast, Thomas, 280.

Nationality, development of, 58;
spirit of, 89.
Nature of political corruption, 41.
Negro vote, 36.
Nepotism, 65, 66.
New York city, 14, 17, 71, 98, 106, 108, 280.
Notoriety, corruption and, 277.

Ochlocracy, 17, 66.

Ogg, Frederick A., 235.
Ohio State Board of Commerce, 197.
Oligarchy, financial, 26, 54.

Party organisation, 30, 43, 72, 201, 213, 214.

Passes, railroad, 60, 230.
Pepys, Samuel, 93-95.
Persistent problem, corruption as a, 81, 85, 86.
Personal interest involved in corruption, 65.
Plato, 6, 87.
Plutocracy, 26, 74.
Poland, 82.
Police forces, 9, 21, 55, 190.
Political science, university instruction in, 139.
Politics, corruption not limited to, 46, 48;
corruption in business and, 161, 169.
Poole, Ernest, 280.
Presidential Campaign Costs, 1908, 233.
Press, the—see journalism.
Primaries and conventions, political contributions for, 270.
Privilege, special, 28, 290.
Professions, corruption in the, 117.
Professors, dismissal of, 147.
Proletariat, 18.
Prosperity and corruption, 5, 53.
Protectionism, 293.
Prussia, 54, 84, 101, 291.
Publicity, campaign fund, 229;
before or after election, 236;
and candidates, 239;
 organisations reporting, 241.
Public Service Commissions, 175.
Public utility service, 28.

Quay, Matthew S., 14.

Railroads, nationalisation of, 181;

passes, 60, 230.
Reform and reformers, 5, 11, 57, 75, 84, 100, 105, 287.
Reformation, the, 82, 84.
Republican National Committee, Report 1908, 233.
Richmond, Mary E., 22.
Riots, 19, 20, 66.
Roberts, Peter, 34.
Rome, 82, 89.
Roosevelt, Theodore, 65, 221, 225.
Root, Elihu, 244.
Ross, Professor Edward A., 167, 302.
Russia, 83.

Salaries of public officials, 177.

Salisbury, Lord, 84.
Sandwich, Lord, 93.
Schools, public, 23, 31, 36.
Schurman, Jacob G., 146.
Seeley, Professor J. R., 51, 88.
Settlements, social, 36.
Seward, William H., 71.
Shaw, Bernard, 288.
Short Ballot, 297.
Simkhovitch, Mary K., 69.
Sin and news, 284;
“smokeless” sin, 286.
Slang equivalents of corruption, 42.
Social groups, interrelations, 66;
individual interests and, 86.
Socialism, 57, 152, 179.
Society, the corrupt machine as the saviour of, 17;
corruption as evidence of maladjustment in, 23;
sweeping charges of corruption against, 57;
responsible in part for existing corruption, 70;
disintegrating effect of corruption upon, 81, 299;
forms of corruption in, 116, 161;
future of, 173;
fundamental strength of institutions of, 301.
Sociology, university instruction in, 139.
Spain, 84.
Special privileges, 28, 290.
Spencer, Herbert, 91.
State, welfare of the, contrasted with local welfare, 7;
corruption not confined to the state, 46;
caritative function of, 70;
Greek classifications of, 87;
primarily political forms of corruption, 169;
international corruption, 170.
State universities, 143.
Steffens, Lincoln, 4, 99, 278.
Stein, Freiherr vom, 101.
Swinton, John, 122.

Taft, William H., 236.

Tammany Hall, 17, 108.
Tax dodging, 60, 192.
“Ten per cent. rake-off,” 105.
Tennyson, Lord, 100.
Thompson, David G., 108.
Tweed, William M., 14, 98, 280.

United States, suppression of vice in, 9;

riots in, 19;
integration of population in, 31;
vote buying in, 36;
political morality of, compared with Europe, 53, 296;
uneven distribution of corruption in, 104;
academic freedom in, 143;
laisser faire doctrine in, 175;
party functions in, 213;
costliness of government in, 215;
privilege in, 290.
Universities and colleges, 48, 132, 139, 143.

Vice, gambling and, 6, 7-8, 186.

Virtue, political, 53, 54, 296.

Walpole, Horace, 83.

Ward, Professor Lester F., 122.
Washington, D. C., 253.
Wealth, growth of, 53.
Weed, Thurlow, 71.
Wendell, Professor Barrett, 285.
Wheatley, Henry B., 94, 95.
White, William Allen, 296.
“Wide-open” communities, 7, 298.
Wood, Fernando, 188.
 Transcriber’s Notes
pg 7 Changed: whole is of greater imporance
to: whole is of greater importance
pg 87 Changed: as the Philospher saw it
to: as the Philosopher saw it
pg 94 Changed: contemporaries in the adminstrative
to: contemporaries in the administrative
pg 124 Changed: Advertising colums still carry
to: Advertising columns still carry
pg 148 Changed: consequences of the dismisal
to: consequences of the dismissal
pg 219 Changed: the sale of politicial influence
to: the sale of political influence
pg 266 Changed: offered by large compaign contributions
to: offered by large campaign contributions
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