Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T02:26:59.256Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

2 - Building blocks: goods, groups, and processes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 March 2010

Get access

Summary

In this chapter we describe the “building blocks” of our analytic strategy – the major concepts and simplifying assumptions that we use for modeling collective action – and discuss many of the scope conditions that circumscribe the applicability of the models. The real world of collective action is obviously much too complex to be captured by any single theoretical model. Real events are always the result of the conjunction of many processes and accidental occurrences. We make drastic simplifying assumptions in our models not because we believe they are “true,” but as a way of isolating a tractable part of a complex phenomenon.

It will be helpful to ground our often technical discussion in an example (used throughout the book) drawn from our experience with voluntary action and social protest. Imagine that there are several cities that have just passed identical ordinances requiring their employees to be city residents, effective next year. (Such ordinances are, in fact, quite common.) Each of the cities currently employs some workers who will be directly affected. None of these ordinances now exempts current employees from the requirement, but an amendment providing such an exemption (a “grandfather clause”) is possible.

In Olson's terms, the grandfather clause amendment is a clear example of a collective good for suburban-dwelling city employees: all such employees will benefit from the amendment, whether or not they help to get it passed. However, a simplistic “Olson model” would predict that every rational employee will try to free-ride (assuming a large group), that no collective action will take place, and that the amendment will not be passed.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×