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OR Forum---Blotto Politics

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  • Alan Washburn

    (Operations Research Department, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California 93943)

Abstract

This paper considers abstract election games motivated by the United States Electoral College. There are two political parties, and the electoral votes in each state go to the party that spends the most money there, with an adjustment for a “head start” that one party or the other may have in that state. The states have unequal numbers of electoral votes, and elections are decided by majority rules. Each party has a known budget, and much depends on the information that informs how that budget is spent. Three situations are considered: (1) one party's spending plan is known to the other, (2) spending is gradually revealed as the parties spend continuously in time, and (3) neither side knows anything about the other's spending. The last situation resembles a Blotto game, hence the title.

Suggested Citation

  • Alan Washburn, 2013. "OR Forum---Blotto Politics," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 61(3), pages 532-543, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:oropre:v:61:y:2013:i:3:p:532-543
    DOI: 10.1287/opre.1120.1142
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Boyer, Pierre C. & Konrad, Kai A. & Roberson, Brian, 2017. "Targeted campaign competition, loyal voters, and supermajorities," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 49-62.
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    3. Dan Kovenock & Brian Roberson, 2021. "Generalizations of the General Lotto and Colonel Blotto games," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 71(3), pages 997-1032, April.

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