  We show the existence of a competition-induced resonance effect for a generic
globally coupled bistable system. In particular, we demonstrate that the
response of the macroscopic variable to an external signal is optimal for a
particular proportion of repulsive links. Furthermore, we show that a resonance
also occurs for other system parameters, like the coupling strength and the
number of elements. We relate this resonance to the appearance of a multistable
region, and we predict the location of the resonance peaks, by a simple
spectral analysis of the Laplacian matrix.

Statistical Mechanics;Disordered Systems and Neural Networks;Chaotic Dynamics