ch 12 Flashcards
What is competition among people often caused by?
the social dilemma itself—the dilemma creates patterns whereby even when we want to be good, the situation nevertheless rewards us for being selfish
When the members of a group, culture, or society are in potential conflict over the creation and use of shared public goods.
Social dilemmas
the benefits that are shared by a community at large and that everyone in the group has access to, regardless of whether or not they have personally contributed to the creation of goods
public goods
What are some examples of public goods?
water reservoirs, public beaches, clean air, public TV
A social dilemma leads people to overuse an existing public good.
Harvesting dillemma
What was the scenario known as the commons dilemma? (proposed by Hardin)
In certain towns in Europe, villagers used a common area to graze their animals. However, when each individual took advantage of the area by grazing the animals, the commons and pasture died
What are some factors that lure people into the common dilemma?
short term self interest, without considering long term effects
What is a big city example of commons dilemma?
people want to drive cars instead of taking the public bus because it is faster, but this ends up creating more traffic and air pollution
When the short-term costs of a behavior lead individuals to avoid performing it, and this may prevent the long-term benefits that would have occurred if the behaviors had been performed.
contributions dilemma
What is an example of contributions dilemma for public funding of TV and radio?
if these programs are not funded, than TV and radio services may be low quality and less enjoyable, so people choose to donate
however, if one believes that enough people will donate, than others will choose to ‘piggyback’ them, since they expect others to put in the work
