Simple model of opinion formation with bias

Michel Droz and Andrzej Pȩkalski

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2019, vol. 525, issue C, 724-731

Abstract: A simple model describing the problem of opinion formation and voting in a two-party population is investigated by a Monte Carlo approach. The population is subjected to an external bias favouring the opinion of the minority (faked news for example). Depending on the type of society (democratic or totalitarian like) the conditions for the minority to take power are determined as a function of the bias and the initial fraction of the minority voters in the population. We show that important factors in the taking power process, apart from the external field, are the range of interactions and the way the population is structured. We discuss the role of the fraction of the number of agents having contacts with the opposite party members (active links). We show also that diversification of the contacts among the agents enhances the effect of the external bias. Possible extensions including more sophisticated processes are briefly discussed and could be easily included in our model.

Keywords: Voting; Sociophysics; Opinion formation; Monte Carlo simulations; Fake news (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:525:y:2019:i:c:p:724-731

DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2019.03.128

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