Multidimensional Theoretic Consensus Reachability: The Impact of Distance Selection and Issue Saliences

This article addresses the estimation of consensus positions in multidimensional coalition formation models. In search of consistency in the model assumptions and inspired by location theory, three types of consensus positions are considered all obtained by minimising a weighted sum of distances to the parties' ideal policy positions, using respectively the squared Euclidean, Euclidean and rectangular distance functions. Particular attention is payed to inclusion of issue saliences, representing the parties' policy priorities. Properties, uniqueness and calculation of the corresponding consensus positions are discussed. We investigate in particular the range of consensus positions reachable by each model when saliences are varied.