POL SCI 21A- Midterm Exam Guide - Comprehensive Notes for the exam ( 47 pages long!)
6 Oct 2017
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Lecture 2: the problem of collective action (caps) Caps: situations in which rational behavior on the part of individuals leads to outcomes everyone dislikes. Wo(cid:374)"t get (cid:455)ou e(cid:454)tra (cid:271)e(cid:374)efit i. e) national defense: tragedy of the common problems: everyone wants some collective good, but everyone also has incentives not to help preserve it; individuals are tempted to squander a collective good. Wo(cid:374)"t itself (cid:373)ake a differe(cid:374)(cid:272)e: benefits you regardless of what anyone else does i. e) overfishing. Even well-intentioned people who all agree about what should be done might not be able to do it! Worse yet, you often deal with folks who are neither well-intentioned nor agreeable. Tho(cid:373)as ho(cid:271)(cid:271)es (cid:272)haoti(cid:272) (cid:449)orld: (cid:862)the state of (cid:374)ature(cid:863) People often cooperate, contribute, or otherwise solve such dilemmas. The more people involved, the harder it gets to solve the problem in an ad hoe fashion. Societies create a government that helps ensure its members coordinate and cooperate.
