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The Collective Action Problem

This video presents the same text shown beside it, spoken and on screen. It adds nothing the text does not say.

State

A collective action problem exists when people share an interest but each has a disincentive to act on it.

Show

One phone call rarely sways a member of Congress, so each concerned citizen rationally skips the call.

Watch for

Shared interest does not organize itself — Mancur Olson's Logic of Collective Action is the source text.