Why Government?
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Great minds have been wondering
about “why government?” forever
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John Locke: Believed people had
natural rights (life, liberty, property), and
that man created government to protect
those rights. He imagined a world
without government and called it the
“state of nature”.
The state of nature is lawless and no
one’s natural rights are protected.
Locke said that people into enter a
social contract with their government in
which they give up some freedoms in
exchange for protection of rights.
Locke, unlike Thomas Hobbes,
believed citizens had the right to throw
off gov. that failed to protect their rights.
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Thomas Hobbes viewed man’s nature as
selfish and conflict-driven. He also
theorized about a state of nature that
predated government and society and a
social contract that ended the state of
nature.
He believed the state of nature was a
perpetual war where everyone was
incentivized to take as they pleased.
Hobbes advocated for a single-sovereign
government (like a king) as the best way
to prevent wars.
Working together is HARD!
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Collective action: the efforts of a group to
reach and implement agreements
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What to do—comparing preferences and finding
something that satisfies a certain number of people (is
preferable to all alternatives or doing nothing)
How to do it—the nuts and bolts of implementation, but
also assurance of shared cost of acting
Collective Action Problems
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Collective action problem: a problem that
is posed by disincentives that tend to
discourage joint action by individuals in the
pursuit of a common goal.
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Coordination problems
Prisoner’s dilemmas 
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Free-rider problems: A situation in which individuals can receive the
benefits from a collective activity whether or not they helped to pay for
it, leaving them with no incentive to contribute.
Tragedies of the commons: A situation in which group members
overexploit a common resource, causing its destruction.
Coordination problems
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Large vs. small
group efforts
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Focal points
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Protests and
demonstrations
The Prisoner’s Dilemma
1. What choice would lead to the best outcome for both players?
2. Which choice leads to the best outcome for an individual?
This formalized game shows how rational
decision-making on the part of an individual
leads to suboptimal outcomes for society.
**What would allow or even coerce the two individuals into
acting for the good of the whole?
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Free-Rider problem
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Large group problem
Contribution size is a
factor
Anyone can benefit
regardless of
contribution
Inducing/incentivizing
participation
The Tragedy of the Commons
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The costless
consumption of a
public good
The ruination of
unregulated
resources
Privatize?
Publicize?
How does this relate to
political systems?
Politics is the process through
which individuals and groups
reach collective agreements and take
collective actions.
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Collective Action
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Collective action: An action taken by a group of like-minded individuals
to achieve a common goal.
Why government?
Definition : The institutions and procedures through
which people are ruled/rule themselves
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• A society is defined by collective action
• But in the state of nature, people are unable to overcome
collective action problems. In fact, they are incentivized to not
cooperate.
• Proper institutional design can help individuals and groups
overcome these challenges.
• Governments are institutions (laws, rules, contracts,
constitutions) that induce cooperation. They provide structure
for how collective agreements will be reached and then
enforced.
• Collective actions and the institutions that guide them have
costs.
References
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Kernell, Samuel, Gary C. Jacobson, Thad Kousser, & Lynn Vavreck. (2014). The Logic of
American Politics Sixth Edition: CQ Press.
Shively, W. P. (2003). Power & Choice: An introduction to political science. New York, N.Y:
McGraw-Hill.
Holt, Charles A. & Monica Capra. (2000). "Classroom Games: A Prisoner's Dilemma," The
Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(3), pages 229-236.
Active Learning in Political Science © blog http://activelearningps.wordpress.com/
Asal, Victor, and Elizabeth L. Blake. 2006. "Creating Simulations for Political Science Education."
Journal of Political Science Education 2 (1) (01/01; 2014/03):1-18.