Election Simulator

A common source of political frustration for Americans is the existence of a two party system. Many voters don't cleanly fit with the Dems or the GOP, but, regardless, are forced to choose one or risk "wasting their vote". Despite the existence of alternatives, third parties rarely gain significant traction. Thus, the entrenched powers are all but guaranteed to stay in place. As frustrating as this reality is, it's actually not surprising. In fact, according to Duverger's law it's an inherent feature of the system we use for elections: First Passed the Post (FPTP).

This simulator seeks to explore political parties, Duverger's law, and FPTP. We've provided a few naive models of voter behavior and controls that allow you to tweak how many voters will exhibit a given behavior. Each election in the simulation, voters use their personal preferences, their voting strategy, and the results from previous iterations to cast their vote, giving us a glimpse into how party prominence can evolve over time.