What is needed to change the result of an election: an analysis with agent-based models

Resumo

How does the result of elections in non-ideal situations behave? When, e.g., there is vote buying strategy occurring into the election process. This article investigates this point using a virtual election through an agent-based model environment. Building a tool for policymakers to test possible scenarios in a virtual environment before to apply in real world. In our model candidates have a limited campaign period to convince the residents to vote for them. They visit the houses of the residents to explain their campaign promises and sometimes offer a bribe. We have found that the existence of bribes can change the election results only if some other factors are also present. The result of an election can be modified when the values are given to voters as bribes are high, or the voters have no kind of memory. Also, the period of the electoral campaign can facilitate changes in the result, the bigger the period, easy to change an electoral result.