What are these community/collective action dilemmas?

Please do not use any other sources or information than what I have provided.
Introduction
Until relatively recently, state governments were not very well respected in political or journalistic circles. Media attention was sparse compared to the amount of coverage given the national government, and it was often negative. To some extent, this treatment was deserved. For example, as national leaders were enacting civil rights legislation during the 1960s, Alabama’s Governor Wallace stood in a university door to prevent integration.

State legislatures were often malapportioned and were more responsive to powerful interests than to the general public. Governors often had little power to act effectively, and state bureaucracies were unprofessional compared to their national counterparts. As a consequence, state governments often got little respect from politicians at the national level or from their own citizens. National politicians did not trust the states to enact or implement progressive programs. Citizens with problems were more likely to contact a member of Congress or a local official than a state legislator or a civil servant.

But things have changed over the past forty years and, although media attention to state government and politics is still less than that devoted to national politics, coverage has increased and is more positive. The perception among many knowledgeable observers is that the federal government is relatively stagnant in initiating new programs, whereas state and local governments are more interesting and innovative. State legislatures are now generally thought to be more fairly apportioned and more representative of different segments of society than in the past. Professionalism is up in every branch of government. For example, legislatures are making better use of staff. State bureaucrats are more likely to get their jobs through civil service exams than patronage. Many states have given their governors longer terms and more power to act.

Partly as a result of these changes, citizens now place more trust in state and local governments than in the federal government and think the subnational governments are more efficient in delivering services than they were in the past. To some extent, government activism has shifted even away from Washington, DC and towards state capitals. Many new programs are being tested at the state and local level. From welfare reform at the county level in North Carolina to New York putting tax forms online, and from education vouchers in Milwaukee to Portland’s progressive recycling program, states and localities are becoming innovative their approach to governing, and blazing trails for other governments to follow.

By studying the various aspects of state and local governments we can better understand the role these levels of government play in our everyday lives. As you go through the course, try to think about how the topics we are studying are important to or are affected by changes in the states. Before we move on to the context and environment state governments work within or the basic offices of these states governments we should step back and talk about politics and political culture.
What is politics?
You have all probably heard the word politics before and you have probably even used it yourself on occasion. You might have been trying to describe the sense and nonsense that goes on is Raleigh or Washington or, perhaps, you were standing around a water cooler and talking about who got the promotion and who did not. But have you ever stepped backed to think about what it is that you are really describing? Have you ever stopped to think about what the word politics really means?

The definition that I like to use is that politics is the process through which decisions are made about who gets what.

What I like about this definition is that it does not tie politics to one thing—i.e. the government—and, instead, allows you to think about any situation where a decision is made about who gets what—i.e. office politics.
In this course we will, obviously, be talking about politics in the context state and local governments but it is might be useful to keep this broader definition in mind.
For example, through this definition it is also easier to understand why I, as a political scientist, am so keenly interested in economic questions. Issues like development and trade can ultimately play a very important role in shaping the process that will eventually determine who gets what. On such issue some of you might have firsthand experience with is the impact that trade in textiles has had on North Carolina. Although it might seem like an economic issue, the reaction that people have towards trade in textiles is going to affect who they vote for, what they think the government should do or how it should spend our tax dollars.
Let’s think about this for a few moments more deeply.
What is political culture?
Many argue that these political trends among the states are indicative of fewer differences among states and regions. According to the “nationalization” of the states argument, states and regions are also becoming more alike in culture, economic development, and income. Among the more important factors in nationalization are increased exposure to national media, increased mobility of citizens, better communications technology, and the influence of national corporations. Everyone watches the same television shows. A Big Mac is the same in Mississippi or Maine (fortunately or unfortunately depending on your tastes). IBM employs people in every region in the country.

Political culture, however, is an example of an important remaining difference among states and localities. Where people live influences how they think about government and politics. According to Daniel Elazar, there are three major types of political culture in the United States: moralistic, individualistic, and traditionalistic.
Moralistic Political Culture
In a moralistic political culture, politics is ideally concerned with working toward the “public interest” through positive action by government. Government serves the purpose of creating a good and just society. Moralists are relatively approving of a neutral public bureaucracy and have a low tolerance for political corruption. Finally, citizens are expected to participate; political participation in a moralistic culture should be widespread. Since the purpose of government and politics is to work toward some common good, it is crucial that everyone have an influence in determining what is the common good. Religion is often tied to this culture, but not exclusively so. In this type of culture, public policies are pursued for the good of all; moralistic political cultures are the most likely to have more generous social welfare policies.
Individualistic Political Culture
The individualistic political culture views government and politics as a marketplace. Government is created to handle functions that the people want. The emphasis, however, is not on achieving some overall public interest, but on serving people’s private concerns as individuals. In the individualistic culture, the best way of satisfying individual needs is through the economic marketplace so government intervention should be largely limited to keeping the economic market working well. Politics itself is often viewed as a business in which it is okay for officeholders and their supporters to reap the benefits of their position. Unless community standards are particularly high, a certain amount of political corruption is tolerated.
In this culture, parties are important, not for their issue positions, but as means of attaining and controlling political offices. Whether someone carries a Democrat or Republican label is more important than what their issue positions are. Because politics is a business, it is best left to professionals. Ordinary citizens should participate to the extent that they benefit from politics as individuals (that is, “What’s in it for me?”).
Traditionalistic Political Culture
In a traditionalistic political culture, government exists not to serve some broad public interest, but to maintain the existing social order. Government preserves the status quo. Holding a governmental position is a privilege and should be limited to the elite (often old families) who inherit or attain their privileged status. Widespread political participation is not encouraged since the elite knows what is best for the community. Political parties are mainly useful as a means for filling offices; issues and ideology are not very important. The party system in a traditionalistic culture typically consists of one major party. While there is some political conflict, it is largely confined to fighting among factions of the major party—factions based primarily on loyalty to different leaders, not issues.

This doesn’t mean that every single person living in a portion of the country with a particular culture thinks exactly the same. But there may be majorities in the population with the same expectations of government, of its role and power and likewise, that of ordinary citizens. Their approach to solving community/collective dilemmas are similar.
What are these community/collective action dilemmas?
Case Study:
A dilemma is a problem, something that has been defined as a negative situation or practice that affects most, perhaps a majority in a community. To solve the problem requires a collective action, a community wide search for a solution. Frequently interest groups and local officials take the lead, in identifying a problem and in coming up with a solution, but not always. This is the heart of politics, identifying problems or goals, and solutions and all the talk and persuasion that is part of the process.
Here’s an article from the New York Times discussing how to deal the (literally) mountains of trash generated in the U.S. everyday. How much trash is shipped to South Carolina, everyday? How is this a collective action dilemma? What response do you favor to this issue?
Click http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/13/science/earth/13trash.html?ref=earth link to open resource.
PLEASE READ THE ARTICLE.
YOU ARE TO ANSWER:
What do you find interesting about politcs?
You will need to read the above information before answering these questions:
How did the NY Times article illustrate how politics is about collective action dilemmas and solutions?
Is it a collective action dilemma? How would you resolve it, if you were “in charge?”
PLEASE ONLY ANSWER THESE 3 QUESTIONS.

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