Semi-serious research proposal

Cronyism, Corruption and Incompetence: A Network Analysis
by Cosma Shalizi

How likely are close cronies to be named to government positions?
How much influence does position in the network — centrality, say, or distance from the President — have on the likelihood of getting a government job?
How likely are cronies to get jobs for which they are not qualified?
Is position more important for incompetent cronies?
How far are people with positions from the President anyway? (Presumably, when someone talks about thinks like political appointments being more centralized, what they mean is something like the average social distance of appointees from the President being smaller in this administration than previously.)
How far are they from whoever's actually at the center of the network?

Here some ideas