Abstract
This paper models the process of promotion or entry into a club. The paper studies a two-parameter family of promotion models. Promotion requires that at least n of the N judges think that the candidate is at least as good as r of the R members in the current group of promoted agents. Candidates minimize the cost of acquiring a D dimensional characteristic, subject to being able to satisfy the promotion criteria. I assume that they must specialize in one characteristic. Under weak assumptions governing which agents leave and the preferences of candidates who arrive, standards decline over time if n/(N+1)<1/D; and standards increase if n/(N+1)>(D-1)/D. If the population of promoted agents must contain one agent specializing in each dimension, then standards decline if n/N<(r-1)/R; standards rise if (n-1)/N>r/R.