POSC
#2 Describe home rule as it existed in the American colonies prior to 1763.
Britain gave up power and allowed Americans to be responsible for their own domestic affairs (taxes)
What is a coordination problem?
arise when trying to make decisions about what you want, individuals have different preferences which makes it difficult to collectively make a decision
delegated authority
authority to assign an agent responsibility to act on your behalf
Command
authority to dictate others' actions High C-one person dictates Low T- people don't have a choice
agenda control
authority to place proposals from being considered High C- dictated w/o consideration Low T-people don't have choice
veto power
ability of one institution/individual to block action Low C- High T-
Why do coordination problems occur in political situations?
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According to Mancur Olson why are separate or selective incentives needed to overcome collective action problems, even when all members of the group have the same basic preferences?
-Selective incentives can be material, solidary, or purposive -The incentive must be 'selective' so that those who do not contribute to the attainment of the group's interest, can be treated differently from those who do.
How did the design of the executive/judiciary branches limit congressional power? Why is this important for Madison?
-checks and balances separated the power which limited congress as a whole -
How did home rule encourage free riding?
-colonies free rode on taxpayers of the UK
More specifically: affects on ability to pay debt, engage in commerce, and deliberate over solutions to public problems?
-commerce-debts had to be paid before doing this -needed money to find solutions for problems
What states favored the Virginia plan?
-larger states -each state would have a different # of reps based on pop. -would obviously favor large states
What states favored New Jersey plan?
-smaller states -# of reps would be the same for both states
Supporters of strong national gov? why?
House -because they wanted to give large states more power and insulate gov with popular interests
Example #1 of Prisoner's Dilemma in politics
Obama's campaign: "get out the vote" operatives discovered that organizing volunteers into groups of more than 10 reduced the group's success in contacting voters. Felt like a number on a spreadsheet, so they dropped the campaign.
Defenders of states rights? why?
Senate -
Is a tax a selective incentive? Why or why not?
Yes. IRS-could be fined if you don't pay "Deduction, exclusion, or exemption from a tax liability, offered as an enticement to engage in a specified activity? http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/tax-incentive.html#ixzz4JUNThVaN
Conformity costs
cost of doing something you wouldn't voluntarily do
How did the virginia plan help empower the national government to solve collective action problems?
could make whatever laws that seemed appropriate/veto any state laws deemed unfit
Why does this problem get worse as the group gets larger?
everyone already has the same preferences if more people contribute, the probability that an individual's contribution to the group will make a difference goes down
What institution would solve the free rider problem mentioned earlier? Transaction/conformity costs?
more security higher transaction costs lower conformity costs
What is a collective action problem?
how groups of individuals in society reach a decision and implement it
Why does anyone ever contribute to collective enterprises given the logic of non participation?
if a collective effort is to succeed it must provide potential participants with a private inducement
How did the Articles affect the postwar economy?
no enforcement in place so they reached a prisoner's dilemma-no state would contribute revenue (US in debt)
What is a Prisoner's Dilemma?
personally better off pursuing selfish activity even though we could be better off as a group pursuing the group's preferences
rule of simple majority
rule that greater than 50% of the vote wins Low C- High T-
Collective Action Problem
situation where people are individually better off trying to free ride and benefit from a public good without contributing to it, but people as a group would be better off if they all contributed. The collective action problem can be thought of as a multi-person version of the prisoners dilemma
Why the divergence?
smaller states feared that the larger states would outvote them if they had more reps (V plan)
Free-rider problem and example
someone sneaks into a concert without paying
#1 Why would it be difficult to imagine a world without politics?
there would be no rules guiding collective decisions which would ultimately result in chaos
Transaction costs
time and effort it takes to reach decisions (incorporates what people want)
How were the differences resolved in the Great Compromise?
two chamber legislature Senate-equal rep, held power to levy taxes House-based on population
When do people have the incentive to free ride?
when individuals receive the collective benefits of the public good without contributing
Why is it difficult to produce a public good?
whether or not you pay into a public good you reap the benefits of it EX: roads
