[EM] Statistical analysis of Voter Models versus real life voting

[Kevin Venzke]

Hi Leon,

--- En date de : Ven 28.1.11, Leon Smith <leon.p.smith at gmail.com> a écrit :
> There are a couple different (honest)
> voter models that have commonly
> been used.   The two used in Warren's
> Bayesian Regret simulations and
> ranked Yee diagrams come to mind, of course.
> 
> Given access to enough data of fully-ranked,  it seems
> to me that it
> should be possible,  especially with a Yee
> model,  to somehow
> determine how well that model fits real
> life.   Is a 2-d euclidean
> plane a with voters ranking based on distance from the
> candidates a
> reasonable model?   How would you analyze
> this?

The 2D Yee diagrams cast voters around a point without any bias in favor
of one dimension or the other, as far as I know. I don't think that is
likely to be realistic. I think a 1D Yee diagram would be more realistic.
Or else have 2D, but the second dimension is much narrower.

I don't know how to prove that some approach is realistic though. In
real life we tend to see a single dimension for single-winner seats, but
that could be a product of nomination disincentive produced by the
particular method (or political framework) being used.

It seems to me a "government vs. opposition" mindset causes voters to
think in terms of a single dimension.

I also don't think Yee diagrams based on sincere voting are all that
compelling.

Kevin Venzke