Understanding Collective Action Problems & Political Institutions in US Politics - Prof. P, Study notes of Local Government Studies

Download Understanding Collective Action Problems & Political Institutions in US Politics - Prof. P and more Study notes Local Government Studies in PDF only on Docsity! >. s THE AMERICAN POLITICAL SYSTEM Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION A Puzzle • Americans prefer low taxes and balanced budgets • Also support programs and policies that create deficits • How can this contradiction be explained? Institutions • Institutions exist to help solve collective action problems – Endogenous vs. Exogenous – Solutions can lead to inequitable distributions • Institutions are rules that determine how collective decisions are made • Can be large and complex or a rule within a larger institution Political Institutions • Branches of government –e.g. Congress, President, Courts • Organizations –e.g. Electoral College, IRS, parties • Rules and procedures –e.g. plurality elections, separation of powers Institutions Collective Dilemmas • Government can help solve collective dilemmas • Without rules to solve dilemmas chaos rules –Thomas Hobbes • Without government, services such as police and fire protection are underprovided Collective-Action Problems • Large-scale Prisoner’s Dilemma • People want to see public good provided –Public vs. private goods • Individuals have no incentive to provide it: Free-riding occurs • Effective enforcement is required to solve problem • Strategic interaction where each actor is better off with cooperation, but each is incentivized to not cooperate Prisoner’s Dilemma Unstable Coalitions • Collective agreements can be undermined in the face of competition • Losers in original coalition have incentives to make “better” offer to some coalition members • Minimum winning coalitions are more susceptible to coalition “raiding” Unstable Coalitions • Unstable coalitions can undermine collective decision making –No final decision ever made • Agenda setters can help by restricting options available to the group Principal-Agent Problems • Principals “hire” agents to do some task for them –Car mechanic –Chef • Principal cannot be sure agent is acting faithfully – Information asymmetry exists between principal and agent Types of Institutions • Authoritarianism— absence of citizen control over government –Dictatorships: one leader –Monarchies: leaders emerge from a ruling family –One-party states: a ruling party runs the country with no political competition Types of Institutions • Democracy—rule by the people –Direct democracy—citizens vote on decisions –Republic—citizens elect representatives who make governing decisions • Democracies have political rights for citizens, and citizens have protections from government (civil liberties) Democracy and the Quality of Life Ate Paty Fiee " 2 4 ‘ Happiness Index ‘aie Fat te Fre 0 o i Infant Mortality per 1,000 Births Notre Fest he Fite Life Expectancy in Years Note Paty tee Free r A) foo td 15.000 MNO B50. GDP per Capita in 2008 Dollars Clicker Question • Which of the following is not a collective dilemma? A. Prisoner’s Dilemma B. Coordination Problem C. Unstable Coalition D. Principal-Agent Problem Clicker Question • Which of the following is not a collective dilemma? A. Prisoner’s Dilemma B. Coordination Problem C. Unstable Coalition D. Principal-Agent Problem Clicker Question • An iPod is an example of a: A. public good. B. private good. C. coordination problem. D. Prisoner’s Dilemma.