Interesting Mathematical model for vote-bank politics

[anilkc]

The case for a BJP-Congress coalition

http://in.rediff.com/money/2004/apr/23guest2.htm

Two economists, Kevin Murphy of Chicago and Andrei Schliefer of Harvard, in a paper* about American politics have now come up with a nice mathematical model for all this. As I will show, it fits perfectly with the Indian condition.

"The key idea," say Murphy and Schliefer, "is that people are influenced by those inside their network, but not by those outside. Once created, networks can be 'rented out' to politicians who seek votes and support for their initiatives and ideas, which may have little to do with network members' core beliefs."

"More generally," say Murphy and Schliefer, "this paper is part of a growing body of research in economics that assumes that individual beliefs on many issues are flexible, and that as a consequence, people are vulnerable to persuasion and influence."

[anilkc]

Here is the link to the paper...u have to pay$5 to get it.
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W10248
Abstract:

We present a model of the creation of social networks, such as political parties, trade unions, religious coalitions, or political action committees, through discussion and mutual persuasion among their members. The key idea is that people are influenced by those inside their network, but not by those outside. Once created, networks can be rented out' to politicians who seek votes and support for their initiatives and ideas, which may have little to do with network members' core beliefs. In this framework, political competition does not lead to convergence of party platforms to the views of the median voter. Rather, parties separate their messages and try to isolate their members to prevent personal influence from those in the opposition.