Stochastic Dynamics of the Multi-State Voter Model Over a Network Based on Interacting Cliques and Zealot Candidates

Abstract

The stochastic dynamics of the multi-state voter model is investigated on a class of complex networks made of non-overlapping cliques, each hosting a political candidate and interacting with the others via Erdős–Rényi links. Numerical simulations of the model are interpreted in terms of an ad-hoc mean field theory, specifically tuned to resolve the inter/intra-clique interactions. Under a proper definition of the thermodynamic limit (with the average degree of the agents kept fixed while increasing the network size), the model is found to display the empirical scaling discovered by Fortunato and Castellano (Phys Rev Lett 99(13):138701, 2007) , while the vote distribution resembles roughly that observed in Brazilian elections.