Theories of Collective Action

Theories of Collective Action PDF Author: D. Reisman
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 023038997X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
Individuals make decisions but they do not do so in a social vacuum. The goods they buy are frequently status-symbols in a zero-sum game which some will win and some must lose. Their consumption of commodities is subject to the constraint that what one can do, all cannot. The pressure of coalitions and interest groups, the self- interest of politicians and bureaucrats may all work against a solution being found for some of the most urgent social and economic problems of our times. These problems form the centrepiece of the economic approach to social interaction that has been pioneered by Anthony Downs, Mancur Olson and Fred Hirsch. This book seeks to examine and evaluate their important theories of collective action.

Theories of Collective Action

Theories of Collective Action PDF Author: D. Reisman
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 023038997X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 351

Get Book Here

Book Description
Individuals make decisions but they do not do so in a social vacuum. The goods they buy are frequently status-symbols in a zero-sum game which some will win and some must lose. Their consumption of commodities is subject to the constraint that what one can do, all cannot. The pressure of coalitions and interest groups, the self- interest of politicians and bureaucrats may all work against a solution being found for some of the most urgent social and economic problems of our times. These problems form the centrepiece of the economic approach to social interaction that has been pioneered by Anthony Downs, Mancur Olson and Fred Hirsch. This book seeks to examine and evaluate their important theories of collective action.

The Logic of Collective Action

The Logic of Collective Action PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Groups
Languages : en
Pages : 186

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Book Description


Collective Action

Collective Action PDF Author: Russell Hardin
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135433097
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 349

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Book Description
Public choice, an important subdiscipline in the field of political theory, seeks to understand how people and societies make decisions affecting their collective lives. Relying heavily on theoretical models of decision making, public choice postulates that people act in their individual interests in making collective decisions. As it happens, however, reality does not mirror theory, and people often act contrary to what the principal public choice models suggest. In this book, Russell Hardin looks beyond the models to find out why people choose to act together in situations that the models find quite hopeless. He uses three constructs of modern political economy--public goods, the Prisoner's Dilemma, and game theory--to test public choice theories against real world examples of collective action. These include movements important in American society in the past few decades--civil rights, the Vietnam War, women's rights, and environmental concerns. This classic work on public choice will be of interest to theoreticians and graduate students in the fields of public choice, political economy, or political theory--and to those in other disciplines who are concerned with the problem of collective action in social contexts.

Introduction to Collective Behavior

Introduction to Collective Behavior PDF Author: David L. Miller
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
This book is an introduction to the study of collective behavior & social movements. By using narratives & descriptions of collective behavior, it reflects what has transpired during & after the events of the 1960's & 1970's.

Collective Action Theory and Empirical Evidence

Collective Action Theory and Empirical Evidence PDF Author: Ronald A. Francisco
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1441914765
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 123

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Book Description
This book comprises empirical tests of the theoretical implications of collective action theory specifically with regard to mobilization. It is based on the author’s European Protest and Coercion Data, which won the Comparative Politics Section of American Political Science Association award for the best data set in 2007. The data is supplemented by historical investigations as well as other research. The volume is divided into six chapters. The introduction covers the theory of collective action in its many manifestations as well as the process of drawing out theoretical implications. The second chapter goes to the core of the mobilization issues, especially with regard to the role of leadership, which is inextricably linked to mobilization. The third chapter applies the concept of adaptation to the development of more productive tactics that promote mobilization in support of a public good and minimize the possibility of repression. In chapter four, five spatial hypotheses based on rationality and formal theories are developed and the role of time in protests is addressed. The fifth chapter focuses on the fundamental problems of terror with evidence from the Basque region of Spain and France from Ireland against the Provisional Irish Republican Army. The final chapter surveys the empirical evidence and summarizes the support of collective action theory. Testing collective action theory implications with empirical evidence will appeal to political scientists, sociologists, economists and researchers concerned with mobilization.

Theories of Political Protest and Social Movements

Theories of Political Protest and Social Movements PDF Author: Karl-Dieter Opp
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134014392
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 422

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Book Description
Political protest and social movements are ubiquitous phenomena. This book focuses on the current theoretical approaches that aim at explaining them: the theory of collective action, the resource mobilization perspective, political opportunity structure theory, the identity approach, the framing perspective, and the dynamics of contention approach. The book has three objectives: (1) Many basic concepts like political opportunities or identity are not clearly defined. It is further often a matter of interpretation what factors are supposed to affect which phenomena. The first aim is therefore to provide a detailed introduction to and a clear restatement of the theories. Only then is it possible to assess and improve them. (2) For each theory the major strengths and weaknesses are discussed, and various modifications and extensions are suggested. (3) Building on these analyses, it is shown how the theories can be integrated into a single theoretical paradigm: the structural-cognitive model.

The Social Psychology of Collective Action

The Social Psychology of Collective Action PDF Author: Sara Breinlinger
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1317791622
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
In recent years there has been a growth of single-issue campaigns in western democracies and a proliferation of groups attempting to exert political influence and achieve social change. In this context, it is important to consider why individuals do or don't get involved in collective action, for example in the trade union movement and the women's movement. Social psychologists have an important contribution to make in addressing this question. The social psychological approach directly concerns the relationship between the individual and society and a number of theories have been developed in the field, particularly by contemporary European researchers. Yet, surprisingly, there has never been, until now, a concerted attempt to bring these various strands of research together in a coherent, detailed presentation of the social psychological approach to collective action. The authors of The Social Psychology of Collective Action review and integrate a number of theories developed in this field as well as presenting their own original research and data. The research discussed in the book ranges over a number of different contexts, with a particular focus on women's groups organizing around issues of gender. Questions addressed include: why do women get involved in women's groups? What part is played by experiences of discrimination in the family and in the workplace? What are the benefits of group involvement? How are feminist activists perceived by others who choose not to get involved? Findings from questionnaires and interviews are integrated with contemporary social psychological theory, especially social identity theory.

Working Together

Working Together PDF Author: Amy Poteete
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400835151
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 371

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Book Description
Advances in the social sciences have emerged through a variety of research methods: field-based research, laboratory and field experiments, and agent-based models. However, which research method or approach is best suited to a particular inquiry is frequently debated and discussed. Working Together examines how different methods have promoted various theoretical developments related to collective action and the commons, and demonstrates the importance of cross-fertilization involving multimethod research across traditional boundaries. The authors look at why cross-fertilization is difficult to achieve, and they show ways to overcome these challenges through collaboration. The authors provide numerous examples of collaborative, multimethod research related to collective action and the commons. They examine the pros and cons of case studies, meta-analyses, large-N field research, experiments and modeling, and empirically grounded agent-based models, and they consider how these methods contribute to research on collective action for the management of natural resources. Using their findings, the authors outline a revised theory of collective action that includes three elements: individual decision making, microsituational conditions, and features of the broader social-ecological context. Acknowledging the academic incentives that influence and constrain how research is conducted, Working Together reworks the theory of collective action and offers practical solutions for researchers and students across a spectrum of disciplines.

The Oxford Handbook of Analytical Sociology

The Oxford Handbook of Analytical Sociology PDF Author: Peter Hedström
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191615234
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 795

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Book Description
Analytical sociology is a strategy for understanding the social world. It is concerned with explaining important social facts such as network structures, patterns of residential segregation, typical beliefs, cultural tastes, and common ways of acting. It explains such facts by detailing in clear and precise ways the mechanisms through which the social facts were brought about. Making sense of the relationship between micro and macro thus is one of the central concerns of analytical sociology. The approach is a contemporary incarnation of Robert K. Merton's notion of middle-range theory and presents a vision of sociological theory as a tool-box of semi-general theories each of which is adequate for explaining certain types of phenomena. The Handbook brings together some of the most prominent sociologists in the world. Some of the chapters focus on action and interaction as the cogs and wheels of social processes, while others consider the dynamic social processes that these actions and interactions bring about.

Collective Action in the Formation of Pre-Modern States

Collective Action in the Formation of Pre-Modern States PDF Author: Richard Blanton
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387738762
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 470

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Book Description
Anthropological archaeology and other disciplines concerned with the formation of early complex societies are undergoing a theoretical shift. Given the need for new directions in theory, the book proposes that anthropologists look to political science, especially the rational choice theory of collective action. The authors subject collective action theory to a methodologically rigorous evaluation using systematic cross-cultural analysis based on a world-wide sample of societies.