Spatial models of voting: Difference between revisions
→Limitations
(Added lede from Yee diagram (rev: https://electowiki.org/w/index.php?title=Yee_diagram&oldid=16705 ) and Dimensional limitations of the spatial model (rev https://electowiki.org/w/index.php?title=Dimensional_limitations_of_the_spatial_model&oldid=16704 ) to create #Yee diagrams and #Limitations sections of this article) |
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== Limitations ==
{{Main|Dimensional limitations of the spatial model}}
While the spatial model is intended to be an approximate representation of real-life opinion distributions, the number of dimensions chosen for the geometric embedding impose fundamental restrictions on the allowed number of candidates which may be effectively distinguished by the voters using ballots, as there is only a finite number of regions possible for each possible ranking assignment of candidates. Conversely, an insufficient number of candidates in a ballot (either by a small number of candidates or arbitrarily restricting the ballot) will also fundamentally restrict the effective opinion space voters can express, as the effective dimensionality is inherently reduced.
Therefore, although any concrete spatial model is an approximation, and should not be taken as a faithful representation of an electorate, the ballots cast in an election are our definitive source of information from the electorate, and these still induce an effective opinion space. Understanding these dimensional limitations can inform us about how much relevant information is being potentially being collected (or discarded) in an election.
== See also==
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