Societal problems as public bads
Chapter 1: Introduction
—> distinction between Societal problems and social problems
Public bads: social problems
Counterpart: public goods
When does a problem become a societal problem?
—> it is not always evident whether a certain situation constitutes a societal problem and, what
should be done about it.
How are societal problems recognized?
1. The is a collection of individual-level behaviours that give rise to a certain society level
situation
2. This society level situation is regarded as undesirable being in con ict with important values
within society
3. A su ciently large group of people consider the issue urgent and as a result the issue
penetrates the public agenda
4. An assessment is made whether government action is needed and feasible, possibly leading
to revised government policies or alternative forms of collective action
Market failure: outcome from individual actors is not satisfactory from the point of society
—> government can cause a solution for a problem, these can be very costly
—> politicians will give attention to a social problem, or not give attention
Short-termism: relative neglect of longer-term issues by giving attention to causes that can be
solved immediately
Short-termism can cause a political business cycle: uctuations in economic performance that
are dependent of the timing of elections
Social norms and the organization of society
Social norms can be considered as public good. This can also be a form of Social capital: an
asset for a group in which each individual member of a group may bene t
—> norms that are generally accepted and shared amongst cultures is for example the system of
universal human rights
The philosophical underpinnings of social norms:
—> asking the question of what social norms should be
- individual perspective: (Kants categorial imperative), one should behave in a way that is legal
and can be used as an example
- Reasoning from a imaginary state of nature: can be seen as a clean slate, a situation where
people are unrestrained by any pre-existing rules or institutions
- There is a sum of rights people in societies should hand over to the state, and a handful they
keep to themselves
The theory of Rawls
- Principle of equal liberty: every citizen should have the same protection against violence, and
have equal opportunities
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, - Di erence principle: people who reason from a veil of ignorance are adverse to risk and
inequalities are good but only if everyone has the same chance of getting a better job (Fair
equality of opportunity principle)
- (Maximin principle): maximization of outcomes for people at the bottom of the distribution
- Higher paid jobs for doctors, pilots etc. are good because they serve the public good
- Rawls advocates a society where there is no discrimination towards minority groups
Theory of Nozick
- non-aggression principle: its fundamentally immoral to use violence against another person
- Citizens do not possess positive liberties, meaning that they have healthcare, but not only
personal for themselves, but also for others who cannot get healthcare themselves.
- Citizens have a right of ownership over private property, as long as they have gotten it in a legal
way
- Night-watchman state: a state which protects its citizens for external threats, and each other.
Socialists:
- larger rol for the state
- Facilitating improvements in individuals’s living conditions
- State interventions in markets when it helps individuals reach more potential
Liberalists:
- individual as a focal point
- Freedom can be constrained only when in exceptional circumstances
- Intervene as little as possible
Conservatives:
- more value to pragmatic rather than abstract arguments
- Rejecting both rationalism and universalism (some ideas have universal application)
- Emphasize wisdom and experience in long standing social institutions
- Against rapid social change
The state versus the other spheres of society
—> market sphere, civic sphere and private sphere
A typology of goods
—> Excludability: the possibility of excluding people from certain goods
—> Rivalry: whether a persons consumption of that good reduces other people’s opportunities to
consume it
Rival Non-rival
Excludable Private goods (food, clothes, Club goods
electronics) (Cinemas, gyms, tv channels)
Non-excludable Common-pool resources Public goods (infrastructure
(timber, coal rare minerals) scienti c discoveries, national
defense)
Nearly all private and club goods are supplied by the market. This is because
1. The price system of the market tends to work that how many things there are bought will also
be made, making it that there are no large surpluses or shortages
2. Competition between rms will drive the price down and improve the quality of products
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, 3. The exible nature of the market means that the economy is accustomed to changes in the
market and will also be exible
—> getting public goods will take public action
—> there is a chance of individuals free-riding
Common-pool resources are managed by the state in some way
Tragedy of the commons: people can increase their
usage because the usage is shared amongst others, but
when everyone does that, there will be a exhaustion of
common-pool resources
Points regarding the typology of goods (see table)
1. There is a di erence between public goods and
goods provided publicly (are goods really public, or
owned by private companies)
2. The position in the table of typology of goods of certain goods can change. Goods may
change in position, due to economic developments, political change or technological
innovation.
Social capital as a public good
—> public goods do not only concern physical objects
- a good example of a non physical public good is social capital. (“Features of social
organizations such as networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate coordination and
cooperation for mutual bene t”).
- This type of capital presents a resource of productive value, meaning that it makes for better
societal outcomes.
- Social capital is also a public good because it is non excluding and non rivaling.
- Individuals can use their social networks to elaborate their own network, getting information,
getting support etc.
- It depends on the network the individual has, if the social capital is really valuable.
- Negatives of social capital: close-knit networks may approach non-members in an exclusive
and hostile way (discrimination is more likely to occur)
A selection of societal problems:
1. We deal with problems in the industrialized parts of the world
- less space of societal problems is located to the poorest countries or regions of the world
2. We focus on societal problems that are regarded as important by the general public or that
have attracted ample attention in political debate
- Restricting our attention to problems that are seen important publicly or politically
3. We concentrate on problems that can be seen as public bads
—> important to stress that this book only discusses big societal problems, and not problems
that come from a small number of ill-intentioned individuals (genocide, terrorist attacks etc.)
Chapter 2: analytical framework
Social scienti c explanations: aim to shed light on societal realities. This can happen in two
ways
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, - Descriptions: belong to statements of a qualitative or quantitative nature and characterize a
certain phenomenon. An example of this could be: “What are the drivers of the recent growth in
international migration?” (Describing question)
- Explanations could be harder to nd. Explanations in social problems or societal problems
could in some cases be explained with a Coleman boat: having macro-micro-macro
explanations
The macro-micro-macro model
—> an example of a Coleman Boat
Hog cycle phenomenon:
Starts with less hogs but high prices on pork meat. This will make it that the farmers will start to
keep more pigs to make more pro t, but as a result of that the price decreases because there are
now many hogs on the market giving a cycle
Methodological individualism:
The idea that only individuals can be considered as beings with a will and a capacity to act
purposefully
—> this means that many problems could be explained by also looking at a micro-level
—> researchers often need to interpret what actors could be doing, because they not always
have the data to nd empirical evidence
A researcher can observe two things:
1. Actions and interactions: actual behaviour
2. Individuals’s verbal statements: underlying motives, expectations of the resulting e ects
—> people often say things in contrary to their behavior, meaning that this data cannot aways be
as reliable. Therefore, scholars like to look at actual behavior rather than verbal statements. This
also links to the German word Verstehen.
Vicarious problem solving:
1. Put yourself in the position of the actor
2. Assume that they have certain preferences and objectives
3. Consider what you would do yourself in their position
4. Search for situational motives and constraints that may further in uence the behaviour of the
actor
Models of human behaviour
Rationality: individuals act in a sensible manner, and use their knowledge and skills in order for
them to reach certain goals
Di erent types of people and visions could be:
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