Analysis of The Logic of Collective Action Public Goods and The Theory of Groups by Mancur Olson

In the United States, pluralism is pertinent and very significant for the government because the government itself is distributed with various powers given to the states. These states then give powers to their local governments, which continues to distribute the power. In the government system, there are levels of that consist of branches that control the many different parts of the system, so that no one person or group is given too much power. The United States has a system of checks and balances, which is pertinent to the power system and the pluralist theory ("What is a pluralist theory of government?" 2017).

Pluralism is based on the ideology that “competition among interest groups produces compromise and balance among competing policy preferences”. (Paletz, Owen, and Cook) Politically, pluralism the distribution of power throughout a government. A misconception is that pluralism

Collective action problems arise in politics because as individuals we are conflicted between our own interest and the interest of the group. Our choice is either to be selfish or cooperate with the group. “It involves building, combining, mixing, and amalgamating people’s individual goals” (Lowi, et al. 13). There are three main theories as to why collective action problems exist. First, according to Mancur Olson individuals are tempted to free-ride which is getting a benefit without contributing to it and that no individual is incentivized to work for the collective good. (Lowi, et al 571). Free-riding becomes a bigger issues as a group gets larger. Second, the Prisoner’s Dilemma is a theory in which there are two individuals in a situation were neither has an incentive to cooperate although both would be better off if they did cooperate. Third, the tragedy of commons occurs when individuals’ use of a resource causes its depletion however it’s supposed to be shared by everyone. Collective action problems are difficult to solve because a group is formed to achieve common goals however as individuals we have different objectives and preferences. This is most evident in politics. My goal in this paper is to provide three different solutions to collective action problems in politics specifically in political parties, electoral process and interest groups.

Most practical reason for the neglect of the many explanations of the dynamics of government is the significance of groups had only fairly recently been forced to the attention of political scientist by the tremendous growth in the number of formally organized groups in the US within the last few decades. His evidence is in Herring’s book Group Representation before Congress, “there had developed in this government an extra legal machinery of as integral and of as

The Pluralist structure illustrates power as the aftermath of the collection of different interest groups haggling for the

According to Thomas Jefferson, an influential leader, “No government can continue good but under the control of the people.” Jefferson’s quote suggests that the social contract and state are only run sufficiently under the authority of the people. There is a common assumption that a definite agreement among the population of a society, is dictated by the individuals themselves. In the past, various theorists as well as powerful leaders have made conscience endeavors to demystify whether the social contract is imposed by the sovereign or society. This essay makes an argument that the social compact is dictated by individuals because individuals have the power to alter the governments they exist within. The state is what the people define it as. It is bound by territory, and people, states comprise of governments. The Social Contract is developed by Jean Jacques Rousseau about what is believed to be the greatest method to establish a political community.

Pluralist theory views politics and decision making as a competitive phenomenon where different groups and individuals have different views and that there is no single elite group that exercises influence (Davis & Go, 2009). The theory holds that power is relatively broadly distributed among different interest groups. These groups hold different views of the same aspect and compete with each other for

Pluralist theory views politics and decision making as a competitive phenomenon where different groups and individuals have different views and that there is no single elite group that exercises influence (Davis & Go, 2009). The theory holds that power is relatively broadly distributed among different interest groups. These groups hold different views of the same aspect and compete with each

Firstly, what’s pluralism? “Pluralism, in political science, is the view that in liberal democracies power is (or should be) dispersed among a variety of economic and ideological pressure groups and is not (or should not be) held by a single elite or group of elites”. [Britannica]

As people, when confronted with a problem where a solution must be found, our ideal situation is to come up with the best possible one. To do this, we ideally gather the most knowledgeable, intelligent individuals into a group and attempt to derive the best solution to the problem. With the collection of these people, one would think that finding the best possible answer to the problem would be a rather simple task. However, what has happened in many situations is the complete opposite. Rather than finding the best possible solutions, many ideal, cohesive groups arrive at the worst possible answer largely due to problems in communication within the group. This is what we call the radical theory of

and this makes the representatives in some way accountable to the electorate. However many are unsatisfied with their representation and join pressure groups to make their views heard. The question is, is this good or bad for our democracy? Pluralism is the way in which the electorate joins groups to have an effect on government. Many

The Brave New World civilization’s ideology of the group being of greater importance than the individual prevails in many modern systems of

One of the facets of living within civilized society is that there are certain norms and social conventions that people must follow. Frequently, there is a large effort on the part of government, financial, and social institutions to keep people doing most of the same thing as others going to work, driving cars, buying homes, etc. Despite the fact that people engage in these efforts individually, the simple fact that they are all attempting to do the same thing, in much the same way, is indicative of the fact that they are engaged in collective behavior. THESIS: Those who are able to overcome collective behavior and allow for their individuality to determine their own outcomes exemplify the best of human nature.

The elite is the selected few but does not reflex the needs of the masses

Every government the world has ever known can be categorized based on two simple categories. Individualism, or collectivism? Many might say governments can be categorized as any number of things, from monarchies, to democracies, to autocracies, and so on. However, every form of government stems from the decision of whether it will be focussed on individualism or collectivism. The ideal government, however, will promote individualism in the end. Why will this ideal governing body choose individualism? Individualism is at our very core as human beings. Individualism is the emphasis of the moral worth of each and every person individually, rather than collective ideologies. Human beings are complex creatures, and thus cannot be seen as a collective. Human beings must be seen as unique individuals, and any government failing to do so will surely fail in every other area as well. What are we without recognition of our uniqueness? We are simply cattle being bred for the government’s convenience if they fail to recognize us as individuals. As Hunter Hastings, from the Center for Indiidualism, said in reference to how we achieve order, “Law and order is the current way: command-and-control by the state, based on the laws the state manufactures through the political process. Unfortunately, under these conditions, a society tends to drift towards the worst forms of state control.”