To how many politicians should government be left?

Peter Klimek (), Rudolf Hanel and Stefan Thurner

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2009, vol. 388, issue 18, 3939-3947

Abstract: We study opinion formation processes in small social networks. In particular we show how a group’s ability for efficient decision-making depends on its size. We adopt a threshold voter model and show that there exists a characteristic size beyond which the probability of forming internal factions–and thus absence of consensus–undergoes a qualitative change. Our work is empirically motivated by an apparent correlation between the size of a decision-making group and its performance in the particular case of national governments.

Keywords: Opinion formation in small groups; Coefficient of inefficiency; Efficiency; Administration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:388:y:2009:i:18:p:3939-3947

DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2009.06.012

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