PLURALITY VOTING: THE STATISTICAL LAWS OF DEMOCRACY IN BRAZIL

Luis E. Araripe, Raimundo N. Costa Filho, Hans J. Herrmann and José S. Andrade
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Luis E. Araripe: Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 60451-970 Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil
Raimundo N. Costa Filho: Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 60451-970 Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil
Hans J. Herrmann: Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 60451-970 Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil
José S. Andrade: Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 60451-970 Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil

International Journal of Modern Physics C (IJMPC), 2006, vol. 17, issue 12, 1809-1813

Abstract: We explore the statistical laws behind the plurality voting system by investigating the election results for the mayor in Brazil in 2004. Our analysis indicate that the vote partition among mayor candidates of the same city tends to be "polarized" between two candidates, a phenomenon that can be closely described by means of a simple fragmentation model. Complex concepts like "government continuity" and "useful vote" can be identified and even statistically quantified through our approach.

Keywords: Election statistics; voting process; fragmentation model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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DOI: 10.1142/S0129183106010200

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