Fig. 5

Simulated data mimic empirical data (d) in Plassmann and Tideman (2011). Empirical data are used to calibrate the parameters of the simulation model. The SDGP consists of a Monte Carlo model that parameterizes a ‘spatial model’ expressed as a set of probability distributions. The simulated data are then used as input in the benchmark data study by Plassmann and Tideman (2014). The aim of this benchmark data study (indicated by the dashed line) is to evaluate which voting rules provide the best performance in translating individual preferences to voting results