Why Government?

Great minds have been wondering about “why government?” forever Thomas Hobbes viewed man’s nature as selfish and conflict-driven. He also theorized about a state of nature that predated government and society and a social contract that ended the state of nature. He believed the state of nature was a perpetual war where everyone was incentivized to take as they pleased. Hobbes advocated for a single-sovereign government (like a king) as the best way to prevent wars. John Locke: Believed people had natural rights (life, liberty, property), and that man created government to protect those rights. He imagined a world without government and called it the “state of nature”. The state of nature is lawless and no one’s natural rights are protected. Locke said that people into enter a social contract with their government in which they give up some freedoms in exchange for protection of rights. Locke, unlike Thomas Hobbes, believed citizens had the right to throw off gov. that failed to protect their rights.

Working together is HARD! Collective action: the efforts of a group to reach and implement agreements What to do—comparing preferences and finding something that satisfies a certain number of people (is preferable to all alternatives or doing nothing) How to do it—the nuts and bolts of implementation, but also assurance of shared cost of acting

Collective Action Problems Collective action problem: a problem that is posed by disincentives that tend to discourage joint action by individuals in the pursuit of a common goal. Coordination problems Prisoner’s dilemmas  Free-rider problems: A situation in which individuals can receive the benefits from a collective activity whether or not they helped to pay for it, leaving them with no incentive to contribute. Tragedies of the commons: A situation in which group members overexploit a common resource, causing its destruction. Collective action occurs when a number of people work together to achieve some common objective. However, it has long been recognized that individuals often fail to work together to achieve some group goal or common good. The origin of that problem is the fact that, while each individual in any given group may share common interests with every other member, each also has conflicting interests. If taking part in a collective action is costly, then people would sooner not have to take part. If they believe that the collective act will occur without their individual contributions, then they may try to free ride. David Hume pointed out the problem in 1740, when he said in A Treatise of Human Nature that, although two neighbors may agree to drain a common meadow, to have a thousand neighbors agree on such a project becomes too complex a matter to execute.

Coordination problems Large vs. small group efforts Focal points Protests and demonstrations

The Prisoner’s Dilemma What choice would lead to the best outcome for both players? Which choice leads to the best outcome for an individual? This formalized game shows how rational decision-making on the part of an individual leads to suboptimal outcomes for society. **What would allow or even coerce the two individuals into acting for the good of the whole? Two criminals are arrested and imprisoned. Each prisoner is in solitary confinement with no means of speaking to or exchanging messages with the other. The police admit they don't have enough evidence to convict the pair on the principal charge. They plan to sentence both to a year in prison on a lesser charge. Simultaneously, the police offer each prisoner a deal. Each prisoner is given the opportunity either to betray the other, by testifying that the other committed the crime, or to cooperate with the other by remaining silent. Here's how it goes: If A and B both confess (rat out each other), each of them serves 5 years in prison If A betrays B but B remains silent, A will be set free and B will serve 20 years in prison (and vice versa) If A and B both remain silent, both of them will only serve 1 year in prison (on the lesser charge) What is the worst outcome for the whole? What is the best? What is the best choice for the individual?

Free-Rider problem Large group problem Contribution size is a factor Anyone can benefit regardless of contribution Inducing/incentivizing participation

The Tragedy of the Commons The costless consumption of a public good The ruination of unregulated resources Privatize? Publicize?

How does this relate to political systems? Politics is the process through which individuals and groups reach collective agreements and take collective actions.

Collective Action Collective action: An action taken by a group of like-minded individuals to achieve a common goal.

Why government? Definition : The institutions and procedures through which people are ruled/rule themselves A society is defined by collective action But in the state of nature, people are unable to overcome collective action problems. In fact, they are incentivized to not cooperate. Proper institutional design can help individuals and groups overcome these challenges. Governments are institutions (laws, rules, contracts, constitutions) that induce cooperation. They provide structure for how collective agreements will be reached and then enforced. Collective actions and the institutions that guide them have costs. The state of nature is a state of perpetual war

References Kernell, Samuel, Gary C. Jacobson, Thad Kousser, & Lynn Vavreck. (2014). The Logic of American Politics Sixth Edition: CQ Press. Shively, W. P. (2003). Power & Choice: An introduction to political science. New York, N.Y: McGraw-Hill. Holt, Charles A. & Monica Capra. (2000). "Classroom Games: A Prisoner's Dilemma," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(3), pages 229-236. Active Learning in Political Science © blog http://activelearningps.wordpress.com/ Asal, Victor, and Elizabeth L. Blake. 2006. "Creating Simulations for Political Science Education." Journal of Political Science Education 2 (1) (01/01; 2014/03):1-18.