SLIDE 1
Politics makes sense…
- …because politics is everywhere
– Def: Any process for making “collective decisions”
- Decisions that will affect an entire group
Chapter 1 Politics Makes Sense Politics makes sense because - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Chapter 1 Politics Makes Sense Politics makes sense because - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Chapter 1 Politics Makes Sense Politics makes sense because politics is everywhere Def: Any process for making collective decisions Decisions that will affect an entire group Problem: group members frequently disagree
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SLIDE 3
- Dealing with conflict is an essential part of
politics
– “Successful” politics usually involves discovering a consensus acceptable to “enough” of the group
- Compromise is generally necessary
– This can be distasteful to some group members
SLIDE 4
Politics and Governments
- Groups of people establish governments to
structure their political decision-making
– Def: A system for implementing political decisions
- Governments define who has what authority
– Who decides about taxes? Laws? Wars?
SLIDE 5
- Governments are often, but not always,
spelled out in constitutions
– Def: Written or unwritten statements of the
- rganization, powers, and limits of the group’s
government and members
- Ex: US Constitution, SC Constitution, Fraternity charter,
Articles of Incorporation (corporation)
SLIDE 6
- The formal roles and positions (president, etc.)
established by a constitution are called institutions
- Generally speaking, what governments do is
make policy – decisions, laws, and programs that are meant to solve common problems
– How to provide the “best” education to citizens?
SLIDE 7
Governing is Difficult
- Why? 2 main (and simple!) reasons:
- 1. Coming to a collective decision can be very
difficult
- Ex: abortion, global warming, gay rights
- 2. Getting people to work together is also difficult
- Even if they agree on what to do!
SLIDE 8
Collective Action Problems
- These basic human difficulties show
themselves in a variety of ways, we will examine 2 in particular:
- 1. Coordination problems
- 2. Prisoners’ dilemma
SLIDE 9
The Coordination Problem
- As a group becomes larger and more diverse,
decision-making becomes more and more difficult.
– You knew this already, because you already understand politics, but the coach who taught you government in high school didn’t.
SLIDE 10
- Large, diverse groups have a more difficult
time reaching agreement than small, homogeneous ones.
– Ex: Japan vs. United States
SLIDE 11
The Prisoners’ Dilemma
- The PD is a “game” about cooperation
– A situation where the outcome depends on the combined choices of all the players
- Def: A situation where both players acting in
their own best interest results in the worst
- utcome for the group
SLIDE 12
- PD story
- 2 players, A and B
– Each has 2 choices, cooperate (stick to alibi) or defect (confess & implicate partner)
- Gives us 4 possible outcomes:
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- The moral of the PD is that voluntary
cooperation is difficult to accomplish
– People rightly try to make the best choices for themselves – Sometimes, those choices have bad consequences for the group
- Ex: Free rider problem
SLIDE 15
Solutions to CAPs
- 1. Coercion (force)
- 2. Majority rule
- 3. Delegation
SLIDE 16
- Throughout the rest of the semester, we’ll be