https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2016-70062-2
Regular Article
Simplification and analysis of a model of social interaction in voting
1
Theoretical Physics Division, School of Physics and Astronomy, The
University of Manchester, Manchester
M13 9PL, UK
2
Centre for Policy Modelling, Manchester Metropolitan
University, Manchester, M15
6BH, UK
a
Current address: Mathematics Institute, University of Warwick, Coventry
CV4 7AL, UK
b e-mail: alan.mckane@manchester.ac.uk
Received:
27
January
2016
Received in final form:
5
April
2016
Published online:
4
July
2016
A recently proposed model of social interaction in voting is investigated by simplifying it down into a version that is more analytically tractable and which allows a mathematical analysis to be performed. This analysis clarifies the interplay of the different elements present in the system – social influence, heterogeneity and noise – and leads to a better understanding of its properties. The origin of a regime of bistability is identified. The insight gained in this way gives further intuition into the behaviour of the original model.
Key words: Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
© The Author(s) 2016. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.
