POLI SCI 220 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Overconsumption, Free Rider Problem, Collective Action
27 Mar 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
The process through which individuals and groups reach agreement on a course of common, or collective, action-- even as they disagree on the intento of the goals of that action. (kernell) Who gets what, when, and how (lasswell) Public goods: your enjoyment of a good doesn"t prevent others from using it; once provided cannot be denied to anyone. Coordination problems: actors agree on a desired outcome, but cannot synchronize their actions to achieve that outcome. Prisoner"s dilemma: interaction b/t 2 strategic actors where neither has an incentive to cooperate even if both would be better off. Individuals have different preferences: beliefs about our tastes, interests values, identities. What we decide to watch (in this example) has to do with the choices we are presented. Problem arises with the third choices because there is no stable winner among 3 options. Majority preferences can be inconsistent with one another -- leading to cycling. We cannot say that public has a top choice.
