Verified Document

Political Science Why Does Congress Term Paper

He believed that in the end all people were good and that everyone is capable of finding that good. Justice to him was more of an internal process as opposed to be an outwardly showing one. Based upon his definition and viewpoint every person is responsible for determining what is right and what is wrong and acting appropriately. He thought that justice was an internal process that each person had control of in their lives. 3. What are collective-action problems? What does it mean to be a free rider? Why does the free market often under-produce public goods? What are the implications of this problem for the theory of the "invisible hand"? Define each of these terms, and give examples.

A collective action problem is any situation that when there are uncoordinated actions that may not result in the best outcome that can be achieved. An example is that of the Assurance Game. In a classic Assurance game, two people have agreed to meet somewhere tomorrow, but have forgotten to specify where and when. So each person tries to think what the other person is likely to be thinking. If each of the people thinks what the other thinks then the collective action problem is optimally solved but if they don't then it is not (Collective Action Problem, 2009).

A free rider is a person who is a follower that evades the cost and expense of finding the best way of doing something by imitating the behavior of a leader who originally made the investments (Free Rider, 2009). The free market often under produces public goods because of the transactions costs. The invisible hand is a term that economists use to explain the self-regulating nature of the marketplace. If public goods are under produced due to costs it is very hard for the market to self-regulate itself under the invisible hand theory. Public goods can not self-regulate if their production...

Efficiency in the production of public goods would require the supplier of the public good to be able to observe each individual's marginal valuation. Those that supply public goods would have to be able to observe how much each person is willing to pay for the public good. Due to the fact that this kind of information is generally not available there e is no reason to think that public goods would be better provided by the public sector than by the private sector (Law and Clemens, 1999).
References

Collective Action Problem. (2009). Retrieved December 10, 2009, from Answers.com Web site:

http://www.answers.com/topic/collective-action-problem

Congressional Committees. (2009). Retrieved December 10, 2009, from Open Secrets.org Web

site: http://www.opensecrets.org/cmteprofiles/index.php

Congress of the United States. (2009). Retrieved December 10, 2009, from Answers.com Web

site: http://www.answers.com/topic/congress-of-the-united-states

Davis, J. (2000). The Greeks. Retrieved December 10, 2009, from Web site:

http://www.richeast.org/htwm/Greeks/Socrates/Index.html

Free Rider. (2009). Retrieved December 10, 2009, from ADVFN Web site:

http://www.advfn.com/money-words_term_7265_Free_rider.html

Law, Marc and Clemens, Jason. (1999). Retrieved December 10, 2009, from the Fraser Institute

Web site: http://oldfraser.lexi.net/publications/forum/1998/may/terminology.html

Socrates. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2009, from Web site:

http://www.san.beck.org/SOCRATES4-What2.html

Sources used in this document:
References

Collective Action Problem. (2009). Retrieved December 10, 2009, from Answers.com Web site:

http://www.answers.com/topic/collective-action-problem

Congressional Committees. (2009). Retrieved December 10, 2009, from Open Secrets.org Web

site: http://www.opensecrets.org/cmteprofiles/index.php
site: http://www.answers.com/topic/congress-of-the-united-states
http://www.richeast.org/htwm/Greeks/Socrates/Index.html
http://www.advfn.com/money-words_term_7265_Free_rider.html
Web site: http://oldfraser.lexi.net/publications/forum/1998/may/terminology.html
http://www.san.beck.org/SOCRATES4-What2.html
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Political Science Inequality, Voting and American Democracy.
Words: 2923 Length: 8 Document Type: Term Paper

Political Science Inequality, Voting and American Democracy. The American political system has always prevented electoral participation by certain social groups, especially those with the fewest resources. The obstacles to participation have changed over time and today formal barriers to participation have largely disappeared. Nevertheless, voting turnout has declined over the twentieth century, and the poor and less educated continue to vote at a lower rate than those who are wealthier and

Political Science the USA Patriot Act Congress
Words: 1642 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

Political Science The USA Patriot Act Congress passed the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act in response to the terrorists' attacks of September 11, 2001. The Act gives federal officials larger authority to follow and seize communications, both for law enforcement and foreign intelligence gathering reasons. It gives the Secretary of the Treasury with regulatory powers to fight corruption of U.S. financial institutions for foreign money laundering reasons. It seeks to further shut the countries

Political Science in My Opinion
Words: 1155 Length: 3 Document Type: Research Paper

With the lessening rank of ideological moderates, the potential of bipartisan cooperation and compromise lessen. Today the two parties disagree with each other more frequently and more vigorously and forcefully than before. Party-based disagreements, policy stagnation, and paralysis stimulated by party rivalry seem to have become the norm instead of the exception (Ono, 2005). It appears that no one in Washington can get anything accomplished because of the political game

Political Science the United States Congress Is
Words: 760 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Political Science The United States Congress is the U.S. Government's Legislative Branch and is responsible for passing laws that affect Americans. Interest groups such as the U.S. movie industry try to influence Congress to pass laws that will be the best for their industry. In order to influence Congress, special interest groups use lobbyists to deal directly with Congressmen and persuade them. At the same time, other interest groups have lobbyists

Political Science the Republican Party Triumphed a
Words: 2265 Length: 8 Document Type: Term Paper

Political Science The Republican Party triumphed a majority in both houses of the Congress in the fall of 1994. This was the first time since the 1952 landslide of Eisenhower. It was believed by many that the Republicans had achieved the partisan realignment in the end. It also came to be believed that the prophesied Republican majority by Kevin Phillips in the late 1960s had come to reality. The Republicans under the

Political Science the United States
Words: 3146 Length: 9 Document Type: Term Paper

The blame game began almost immediately, and President Bush, together with many among the American people, looked for scapegoats. Iraq - a Muslim nation weakened by war and economic sanctions - would prove an easy target of American wrath in this new era of suspicion and fear. The belief had arisen that, if the rules governing intelligence had been different, 9/11 might have been prevented. A frequent target of

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now