Read this text on interest groups that emerge from collective action. What is disturbance theory? Can you think of a workable solution for the free rider problem in interest groups?
In any group project in which you have participated, you may have noticed that a small number of students did the bulk of the work while others did very little. Yet everyone received the same grade. Why do some do all the work while others do little or none? How is it possible to get people to work when there is a disincentive to do so? This situation is an example of a collective action problem, and it exists in government as well as in public and private organizations. Whether it is Congress trying to pass a budget or an interest group trying to motivate members to contact lawmakers, organizations must overcome collective action problems to be productive. This is especially true of interest groups, whose formation and survival depend on members doing the necessary work to keep the group funded and operating.
Collective action problems exist when people have a disincentive to take action. In his classic work, The Logic of Collective Action, economist Mancur Olson discussed the conditions under which collective action problems would exist, and he noted that they were prevalent among organized interests. People tend not to act when the perceived benefit is insufficient to justify the costs associated with engaging in the action. Many citizens may have concerns about the appropriate level of taxation, gun control, or environmental protection, but these concerns are not necessarily strong enough for them to become politically active. In fact, most people take no action on most issues, either because they do not feel strongly enough or because their actions will likely have little bearing on whether a given policy is adopted. Thus, there is a disincentive to call your member of Congress because rarely will a single phone call sway a politician on an issue.
Why do some students elect to do little on a group project? The answer is that they likely prefer to do something else and realize they can receive the same grade as the rest of the group without contributing to the effort. This result is often termed the free rider problem because some individuals can receive benefits (get a free ride) without helping to bear the cost. When National Public Radio (NPR) engages in a fund-raising effort to help maintain the station, many listeners will not contribute. Since it is unlikely that any one listener's donation will be decisive in whether NPR has adequate funding to continue to operate, most listeners will not contribute to the costs but instead will free ride and continue to receive the benefits of listening.
Collective action problems and free riding occur in many other situations as well. If union membership is optional and all workers will receive a salary increase regardless of whether they make the time and money commitment to join, some workers may free ride. The benefits sought by unions, such as higher wages, collective bargaining rights, and safer working conditions, are often enjoyed by all workers regardless of whether they are members. Therefore, free riders can receive the benefit of the pay increase without helping defray the cost by paying dues, attending meetings or rallies, or joining protests, like that shown in Figure 10.5.
Figure 10.5 In December 2018, in protest against working conditions such as computer tracking and being required to work at a high rate of speed, around two hundred Amazon workers, mostly of East African descent, protested outside their workplace in Shakopee, Minnesota.
In addition to the factors discussed above that can help overcome collective action problems, external events can sometimes help mobilize groups and potential members. Some scholars argue that disturbance theory can explain why groups mobilize due to an event in the political, economic, or social environment. For example, in 1962, Rachel Carson published Silent Spring, a book exposing the dangers posed by pesticides such as DDT. The book served as a catalyst for individuals worried about the environment and the potential dangers of pesticides. The result was an increase in both the number of environmental interest groups, such as Greenpeace and American Rivers and the number of members within them.
More recently, several shooting deaths of unarmed young African American men have raised awareness of racial issues in the United States and potential problems in policing practices, including racial disparities in treatment by police officers. In 2014, Ferguson, Missouri, erupted in protests and riots following a decision not to indict Darren Wilson, a White police officer, in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, who had allegedly been involved in a theft at a local convenience store and ended up in a dispute with the officer. The incident mobilized groups representing civil rights, such as the protestors in Figure 10.6, as well as others supporting the interests of police officers.
In May 2020, George Floyd died shortly after police officer Derek Chauvin leaned his knee on Floyd's neck for nine and half minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and laying face down on the ground. Chauvin was later convicted of murder for the act. The protests that followed the release of video footage of the incident occurred in cities all across the United States, including Washington DC, and were much greater – bigger, more widespread, and more significant – than the Ferguson demonstrations. (A protest is an orderly exercise of the constitutional right of free speech and peaceful assembly. Rioting involves destroying property and/or attacking other people, which are crimes).
Figure 10.6 On May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis, George Floyd was murdered while in police custody as onlookers recorded the incident; he has since been memorialized at the site of the crime (a). His death led to massive protests and calls to divest funds from police departments across the country, including in Minneapolis (b).
Figure 10.7 Protestors take to the streets on different sides of the immigration issue. Some argue that the United States is a nation of immigrants, whereas others demonstrate in support of greater restrictions on immigration.
Student behavior is somewhat paradoxical when it comes to political participation. On one hand, students have been very active on college campuses at various times over the past half-century. Many became politically active in the 1960s as part of the civil rights movement, with some joining campus groups that promoted civil rights, while others supported groups that opposed these rights.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, college campuses were very active in opposition to the Vietnam War. More recently, in 2015, students at the University of Missouri protested against the university system president, who was accused of not taking racial issues at the university seriously. The student protests were supported by civil rights groups like the NAACP, and their efforts culminated in the president's resignation.
In April 2021, hundreds of students, faculty, and staff gathered at the University of Richmond to protest the names of two campus buildings, one named after an enslaver and one after a segregationist.
Yet at the same time, students participate by voting and joining groups at lower rates than members of other age cohorts. Why is it the case that students can play such an important role in facilitating political change in some cases, while at the same time they are typically less active than other demographic groups?
Are there groups on campus that represent issues important to you? If not, find out what you could do to start such a group.
Source: OpenStax, https://openstax.org/books/american-government-3e/pages/10-2-collective-action-and-interest-group-formation
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