Abstract
The strong point is the point which minimizes the probability that a candidate be defeated in a two-party election. The center of power is the weighted average of voters' positions in a spatial voting game, where the weights are given by Shapley's modified value. We show that, under very general conditions, the strong point and the center of power coincide.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Downs A (1957) An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York (Harper & Row)
Glazer A, Grofman B, Noviello N and Owen G (1987) “Stability and Centrality of Legislative Choice in the Spatial Context.” American Poli. Sci. Rev.: 539–553
Owen G (1972) “Political Games,” Naval Res. Log. Quart.: 345–354
Shapley L S (1953) “A Value for n-Person Games.” Contributions to the Theory of Games II. ed. H W Kuhn and A W Tucker. Annals of Mathematic Study 24. Princeton (Princeton University Press). 307–317
Shapley L S (1977) “A Comparison of Power indices and a Non-Symmetric Generalization.” RAND Corporation. Santa Monica, Paper P-5872
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Owen's research was supported by the National Science Foundation, Grant SES 85-06376.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Owen, G., Shapley, L.S. Optimal location of candidates in ideological space. Int J Game Theory 18, 339–356 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01254297
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01254297