Challenges to Implementing Collective Action in the US

Collective action is defined as actions taken by like-minded individuals in an effort to achieve the same goal. Though this seems to be an asset to the United States government, the country cannot seem to master the idea of working together toward a common goal due to several problems. The textbook presented many of these problems that may prevent the United States from implementing collective action including, coordination, the prisoner’s dilemma, and logrolling. Coordination is the act of working as a group, rather than as individuals, to achieve the best outcome of a specific goal. It is best explained when analyzing musicians in an orchestra section, who must rely on one another when they perform. Rather than only paying attention to their own part, the musicians must pay close attention to what their neighbors are doing otherwise the music will not flow and will sound chaotic. Coordination presents a problem within Congress since our government is on too large of a scale for coordination to work smoothly. Unlike an orchestra section, the United States government serves billions of people across the country. In an attempt to

Logrolling is defined as a legislative practice where Congress members offer support to one another’s tax breaks or vote-gaining projects. It is a large issue within Congress because it has encouraged a system similar to bribery. This “you scratch my back, I will scratch yours” has taken away a portion of the peoples representation because there is a chance that even if a certain group of citizens vote for their Congressmen to vote yes on a bill that he will vote no so that something else he wants will pass. Even though logrolling has allowed Congress and the President to work more easily together in some circumstances, it does not always allow the system to work for the people that it was created