The Logic of American Politics

The Politics of “Choice”

Politics Equals “Choice”Politics is how people try to manage conflict

[choices].A good example is the politics of the forest.

Endangered species-spotted owl and coho salmonThe environment v. forest/loggersGlobal warming and hurricanes

Who Manages “Choices”?American history and Federalism

Is the environment a federal issue or a state issue?

The Kyoto Agreement-an example of a dilemma

Definitions to KnowPolitics

The process through which individuals and groups reach agreement on a course of common, or collective, action-even if they continue to disagree on the goals that action is intended to achieve

GovernmentInstitutions created by a constitution and charged with making and enforcing collective agreements. Forms of the institution can be a monarchy, a representative democracy, a democracy [rare], a theocracy, or a dictatorship

ConstitutionThe set of rules prescribing the political process these institutions must follow to reach and enforce collective agreements. It creates positions of authority. It can be formal or informal, written or unwritten.

Choices Require Collective Action

The Problems of Collective ActionCoordination

Simplest barrier to overcome

Members of the group must decide: what they want; and,

what they are prepared to contribute to the goal; and,

how they will coordinate their effort with others.

Prisoner’s DilemmaFree-rider problem

The Tragedy of the Commons

Examples of the free-rider problem

Voting

Public Broadcasting

The Draft

Taxes

Examples-The Tragedy of the Commons

Animals grazing on public lands

Cod fishing off of New England

The Midwest and wheat growing

The National Park Service

The Costs of Collective ActionThe dollar cost of creating the project

Overhead costs

Transaction costs

The Decision Making Process of Collective Action

Majority Rule

The Rule of Plurality

Direct Democracy [pure democracy]

Delegation of power [authority]

Representative Government

The General Goal of Collective Action

Provision of Public GoodsPrivate Goods = Items people buy and

consume themselves in a marketplace that supplies these goods according to the demand on them [capitalism].

Public Goods fall into four categoriesHealth concerns

Safety [both nationally and internationally]

Order [both social and moral]Public “Betterment”

Public “Bads” = Externalities