Introduction and Collective Action Problems

During the first week we will go over the syllabus, which you can check out on the homepage. We will also discuss why collective action is needed, the problems of collective action, and how institutional design might help us overcome them.

Wednesday, January 10

We will go over the syllabus and class.

Friday, January 12

Readings

  1. Logic of American Politics, Chapter 1.

Key terms and concepts

  1. Collective action
  2. Prisoner’s dilemma
  3. Free-rider problem
  4. The tragedy of the commons
  5. Institutional design
  6. Public and private goods

Questions for critical thinking

  1. Why can’t we solve our disputes through simple bargaining all the time? What factors undermine bargaining in different settings?1
  2. How can government institutions help solve collective action problems?
  3. In the context of a democracy, when can we say an institution is effective as solving collective action problems and when does it fail to do so?

Slides

PDF of slides

Footnotes

  1. From the textbook’s review questions↩︎