Abstract
The logic of individual (non)-participation in collective action such as political protest or revolution, derived from Mancur Olson’s seminal exposition (1965), is well known. In large groups, each individual reasons first that his or her participation will have little marginal impact on the likelihood that collective action would be successful. Further, individuals who do not participate cannot normally be denied the benefits of the “public goods”, e.g. a change in regime or public policy, which successful collective action can provide. As a result, rational individuals will prefer to abstain or “free-ride” on the efforts of others, reasoning that abstention will bring the same expected benefits as participation without any of the potentially severe personal, legal and opportunity costs involved in protest behavior.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Bibliography
Abelson, Robert P., 1995: The Secret Existence of Expressive Behavior, pp. 25–36 in: Jeffrey Friedman (Hg.): The Rational Choice Controversy: Economic Models of Politics Revisited. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Ajzen, Icek, and Martin Fishbein, 1980: Understanding and Predicting Social Behavior. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Ajzen, Icek, 2005: Attitudes, Personality and Behavior. Maidenhead and New York: Open University Press.
Bandura, Albert, 1997: Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. Houndmills: W. H. Freeman at MacMillan Press.
Benn, Stanley I., and G.W. Mortimore, 1976: Introduction, pp. 1–7 in: Stanley I. Benn, and G.W. Mortimore (Hgs): Rationality and the Social Sciences. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Chong, Dennis, 1991: Collective Action and the Civil Rights Movement. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Elster, Jon, 1989: The Cement of Society. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Elster, Jon, 1985: Rationality, Morality, and Collective Action, Ethics 96: 136–55.
Finkel, Steven E., and Edward N. Müller, 1998: Rational Choice and the Dynamics of Collective Political Action, American Political Science Review 92: 37–50.
Finkel, Steven E., Edward N. Muller, and Karl-Dieter Opp, 1989: Personal Influence, Collective Rationality, and Mass Political Action, American Political Science Review 83: 885–803.
Finkel, Steven E., and Karl-Dieter Opp, 1991: Party Identification and Participation in Collective Political Action, Journal of Politics 53: 339–71.
Fireman, Bruce, and William Gamson, 1979: Utilitarian Logic in the Resource Mobilization Perspective, pp. 8–44 in: Mayer N. Zald and John McCarthy, (eds): The Dynamics of Social Movements. Cambridge, MA: Winthrop.
Green, Donald P., and Ian Shapiro, 1994: Pathologies of Rational Choice Theory. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Kanazawa, Satoshi, 1998: A Possible Solution to the Paradox of Voter Turnout, Journal of Politics 60: 974–995.
Klosko, George, 1987: Rebellious Collective Action Revisited, American Political Science Review 81: 557–61.
Lohmann, Susanne, 1994: Dynamics of Informational Cascades: The Monday Demonstrations in Leipzig, East Germany, 1989–91, World Politics 47: 42–101.
Macy, Michael, 1990: Learning Theory and the Logic of Critical Mass, American Sociological Review 55: 809–826.
McAdam, Doug, and Ronnelle Paulsen, 1993: Specifying the Relationship Between Social Ties and Activism, American Journal of Sociology 99: 640–667.
Muller, Edward N., Henry A. Dietz, and Steven E. Finkel, 1991: Discontent and the Expected Utility of Rebellion: The Case of Peru, American Political Science Review 85: 1261–1282.
Muller, Edward N., and Karl-Dieter Opp, 1986: Rational Choice and Rebellious Collective Action, American Political Science Review 80: 471–89.
Olson, Mancur, 1965: The Logic of Collective Action. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Opp, Karl-Dieter, 1986: Soft Incentives and Collective Action: Participation in the Anti-Nuclear Movement, British Journal of Political Science 16: 87–112.
Opp, Karl-Dieter, 1989: The Rationality of Political Protest. Boulder: Westview Press.
Opp, Karl-Dieter, 1997: Die enttäuschten Revolutionäre. Politisches Engagement vor und nach der Wende. Opladen: Leske und Budrich.
Opp, Karl-Dieter, 1998: Does Anti-Regime Action Under Communist Rule Affect Political Protest After the Fall? Results of a Panel Study in East Germany, The Sociological Quarterly 39: 189–214.
Opp, Karl-Dieter, Steven E. Finkel, Edward N. Muller, Gadi Wolfseld, Henry A. Dietz, and Jerrold D. Green, 1995: Left-Right Ideology and Collective Action: A Comparative Analysis of Germany, Israel, and Peru. pp. 63–95 in: J. Craig Jenkins and Bert Klandermans, (eds.), The Politics of Social Protest. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Opp, Karl-Dieter, Peter Voß und Christian Gern, 1993: Die Volkseigene Revolution. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta.
Opp, Karl-Dieter, 1999: Contending Conceptions of the Theory of Rational Action, Journal of Theoretical Politics, 11: 171–202.
Simon, Herbert, 1985: Human Nature in Politics: The Dialogue of Psychology with Political Science, American Political Science Review 79: 293–304.
Taylor, Shelley, 1989: Positive Illusions: Creative Self-Deception and the Healthy Mind. New York: Basic Books.
Udehn, Lars, 1996: The Limits of Public Choice: A Sociological Critique of the Economic Theory of Politics. London: Routledge.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften | GWV Fachverlage GmbH, Wiesbaden
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Finkel, S.E. (2008). In Defense of the “Wide” Rational Choice Model of Collective Political Action. In: Diekmann, A., Eichner, K., Schmidt, P., Voss, T. (eds) Rational Choice: Theoretische Analysen und empirische Resultate. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-90866-3_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-90866-3_2
Publisher Name: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften
Print ISBN: 978-3-531-15545-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-531-90866-3
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Science (German Language)