POLS30040 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Collective Action, Netflix, Human Behavior
Document Summary
Government action (or inaction) that is in response to public problems. Policy outputs: these are actions that governments take to pursue their goals. Policy outcomes: the results that occur from the policy actions that took place. Public good: the optimization of human potential through setting certain goals and expectations. Human potential succeeds when we have good public policy. Human behavior (derives from the idea the humans act rationally) Rational individual choices don"t always lead to the best collective decisions. Externalities: actions of two parties have either a positive or negative effect on a third party. Non-rival: if someone"s use of this good does inhibit someone else"s use of it. Individuals acting rationally, in other worse in their own self-interest, will ruin the commons (ex. A fisherman taking as much fish as they can. If they take too many, there won"t be enough left over for everyone else) There can be privileged groups that help (environmentalists)