Collective action

Collective action involves several people working together to achieve a common objective. However, while everyone in any given group may share common interests with every other member, they may also have conflicting interests. If each person believes that the collective act will occur without their individual contribution, then they may try not to contribute (free ride). David Hume pointed out the problem in 1772, when he said that although two neighbors may agree to drain a common meadow, to have a thousand neighbors agree on such a project becomes too complex to execute. Another modern example would be the syndicate: if collective wage bargaining (for an industry) is provided by an industrial syndicate, then the fruits of that bargaining would be enjoyed by all workers, not only the activists. In this case, successful bargaining is a public good whose access is not “excludable”. The problems of collective action were popularized by Mancur Olson. Olson suggested that collective action problems were solved in large groups using selective incentives. These incentives might be extra rewards contingent upon taking part in the action or penalties imposed on those who do not. However, for positive selective incentives to work, individuals who take part in collective action must be identified; and for negative selective incentives, those who do not take part must be identified. Several aspects of the individual and group characteristics would influence the degree of the collective action problems and their solutions. For example, a more homogenous group would find it easier to discover shared preferences. Individuals will not contribute toward a collective good if the extra benefits they accrue through receiving that good are worth less than the costs of their contribution or efforts. The fact of a rival group organizing itself successfully can spur collective action. Adapted from Bevir, M. (2007)