Here's a lecture from Yale on political positioning from a Game Theory perspective:
https://oyc.yale.edu/economics/econ-159/lecture-3
It rigorously examines the payoffs political candidates can expect from adopting various positions along the political perspective, from a
non-partisan perspective. The lecture is from a Game Theory course, not a Political Science course.
I personally believe that the distribution of Americans over the political spectrum is a natural distribution, with the majority of voters near the
center and dwindling numbers at the extremes (i.e., a bell curve). The
lecturer assumes a uniform distribution, which I believe underscores the
point of the exercise by assuming perhaps the best case scenarion for fringe candidates.
It's about an hour long, and is dry at times, but if you'd like to know part
of what informs a big part of my views on the American political phenomenon, I think it's definitely worth a watch. Again, it's not "leftist" and it's not "rightist." It's about selecting the best political position to maximize
votes, regardless of political perspective.
Jeff.
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