Voters' Economic Confidence Levels, Partisanship and Support for Incumbents: An Agent-Based Model Analyzing the 2012 US Presidential Elections
"In the US Presidential Elections in 2012, incumbent President Barack Obama defeated Republican challenger Mitt Romney, winning all swing states. According to national polling, 59% of voters believed the economy was the most important issue facing the country. Only 15% of Americans believed the economy was good or excellent with an unemployment rate at 8.1%. Despite these dismal statistics, 40% of Americans nationwide believed the economy was improving. Within this paper, we develop an agent-based model that examines the factors affecting US voters, which include: partisanship to a political party, perception of current economy, and outlook on the economy. We model the voting behavior of a simulated population within a two-party electoral system—incumbent versus challenger parties."
"Fast and Frugal Diagram of the Model":
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Version of NetLogo: NetLogo 6.1.0
Semester Created: Fall 2015