POLS 1101 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Collective Action, First Continental Congress, Johnny Isakson

79 views14 pages

Document Summary

Government: the system for implementing decisions made through the political process. Factions: groups of like-minded people who try to influence the government. Government is set up to ensure that no faction dominates gov"t. Separation of powers: the division of government power across the judicial, executive, and legislative branches. Public goods: services or actions that, once provide to one person, become available to everyone. Gov"t provides because they will be underprovided by the free market. Collective action problems: situations in which the members of a group would benefit by working together to produce some outcome, but each individual is better off refusing to cooperate and reaping benefits from those who do the work. Free rider problem: the incentive to benefit from others" work without making a contribution, which leads individuals in a collective action situation to refuse to work together. Politics: the process that determines what government does. I. e. education: politics is conflictual, the political process matters, politics is everywhere.