simulate_election: Function to simulate a full election in a single district

Description

The function runs a complete election in a single district, using the simulation framework described in detail in Chapter 4 of Crisp et al. 2024.

Usage

simulate_election(
  voters = NULL,
  parties = NULL,
  cands = NULL,
  nominated = NULL,
  nvoters = 3000,
  nparties = 5,
  nvotes = 1,
  M = 5,
  rank_cand = TRUE,
  strategic = TRUE,
  strategic_error = 0.05,
  who_ranks = c("parties", "voters", "none"),
  gamma_val = NULL,
  gamma_rank = 1,
  elec_fun_name = "dhondt",
  ballot_type = "open",
  primary = FALSE,
  two_round = FALSE,
  pool_level = c("party_list", "party", "candidate"),
  ranked_vote = FALSE,
  free_vote = FALSE,
  max_cand = 0,
  threshold = 0,
  lists_per_party = 1,
  seed = 123,
  elec_results_only = FALSE,
  multiplier = 1,
  system_name,
  ...
)

Value

data.frame with the following variables (if elec_results_only=FALSE, otherwise, data.frame with candidate id's, positions, valences, votes obtained, and whether they won a seat or not):

gamma_val: See Usage above
epsilon: Maximum acceptable ideological distance used in voters' utility function
hetero: Measure of elected candidate heterogeneity
pers: Average valence of elected candidates
lsq: Least Squares measure of disproportionality
enp_v: Effective number of electoral parties
enp_s: Effective number of legislative parties
avg_dist: Average distance between elected candidates and voters
var_elect: Variance of ideological positions of elected candidates
avg_vote_util: Average utility of voters w.r.t. candidates they voted for
avg_elect_util: Average utility of voters w.r.t. elected candidates
sample_parties: Parties that initially could have entered the election
ran_parties: Parties that decided to enter the election

Arguments

voters: Optional vector of voter positions in 1d ideological space.
parties: Optional vector of party positions in 1d ideological space. Maximum of 10 parties allowed.
cands: Optional matrix with three columns: candidate 1d ideological position, unique numerical candidate ID, and positive numerical candidate valence
nominated: Optional data.frame with five variables: rank (candidate ranking in the party list); candidate (numeric candidate ID); pos (1d ideological position of candidate); list (numeric list ID; equal to 1, unless parties are allowed to have multiple lists); party (numeric party ID).
nvoters: Number of voters; defaults to 3,000.
nparties: Number of parties; defaults to 5; maximum allowable: 10.
nvotes: Number of votes per voter; defaults to 1. Can also take on special values 0 (which then is internally replaced by the district magnitude) and -1 (which is then internally replaced by 1 fewer vote than the district magnitude).
M: District magnitude; defaults to 5.
rank_cand: Boolean: should candidates be ranked on the party list? Defaults to TRUE.
strategic: Boolean: do parties and voters behave strategically? Defaults to TRUE.
strategic_error: Numeric probability with which strategic actors fail to choose the optimal alternative.
who_ranks: Character actor who arranges party lists, one of parties, voters,none; defaults to parties.
gamma_val: Numeric weight assigned to the valence component of voters' utility function.
gamma_rank: Numeric weight assigned to the candidate ranking on the party list when computing the voter's utility.
elec_fun_name: Name of function implementing electoral system formula.
ballot_type: Character string indicating type of ballot, one of open,closed, or flexible; defaults to open.
primary: Boolean: should a primary election be conducted? Defaults to FALSE.
two_round: Boolean: should a second election round be conducted? Defaults to FALSE.
pool_level: Character level at which votes are pooled, one of party_list (or sub-party list),party, or candidate. Defaults to party_list
ranked_vote: Boolean: Do voters cast a ranked vote? Defaults to FALSE.
free_vote: Boolean: If voters can cast multiple votes, can the be for candidates in different parties? Defaults to FALSE.
max_cand: Numeric maximum number of candidates running in a party list; defaults to 0, which is internally interpreted as the district magnitude.
threshold: Numerical legal electoral threshold; defaults to 0 (i.e., no threshold).
lists_per_party: Integer allowed number of lists per party; defaults to 1.
seed: Random number generator seed; defaults to 123.
elec_results_only: Boolean: Should function return ancillary information on election, or just election results? Defaults to FALSE.
multiplier: Numeric factor by which to multiply the votes cast by voters with the same ideological position; defaults to 1.
system_name: Character name of electoral system used, one of 'AV', 'BC', 'STV', 'MNTV', 'LV', 'PR', or 'SMDP'
...: Additional arguments passed to elec_fun_name.

Examples

Run this code

# Simulate a PR (D'Hondt) election with 3 parties, 5 candidates per party,
# 100 voters, and a district magnitude of 2, allowing for strategic voting

simulate_election(parties = c(-1, 0, 1),
                  nvoters = 100,
                  M = 2,
                  strategic = TRUE,
                  elec_fun_name = "dhondt",
                  system_name = "PR")

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