PMP Social Science

Exam (B)

-441960371475Instructions to students

Use this document to write your answers to the Exam. The answers must be written in an essay format. Make sure you write a title for your essays. You can use the last page of the document to write an outline (do not delete it).

You are advised to use the same font style and size throughout, with 1.5 space for the text and single space for the references.

Do not write your name in the document but include your name in the file name when you save it in your computer: P_SSc_Exam_SURNAME_Name (Example: P_SSc_Exam_HERNANDEZ_Andira)

You have 2 hour and 30 minutes to complete this exam. Use the Turnitin link in: Assessments and Feedback/ Summative Assessment 1: Open Book exam folder. Late submissions are not allowed.

Before you start, read the questions carefully. Answers have to reflect understanding of the learning materials of this module. Do not use other sources besides the Open Book Exam: Readings (available in: Assessments and Feedback/ Summative Assessment 1: Open Book exam folder).

00Instructions to students

You are advised to use the same font style and size throughout, with 1.5 space for the text and single space for the references.

Do not write your name in the document but include your name in the file name when you save it in your computer: P_SSc_Exam_SURNAME_Name (Example: P_SSc_Exam_HERNANDEZ_Andira)

You have 2 hour and 30 minutes to complete this exam. Use the Turnitin link in: Assessments and Feedback/ Summative Assessment 1: Open Book exam folder. Late submissions are not allowed.

-371502282327Questions:

Answer two of the following questions below. Answers must be 500 words each (+/-10%)

Individual behaviour

1. Jane’s friends invite her to go out for dinner at a restaurant. While Jane does not have a lot of spare money at the moment, she has enough for a simple meal, so she decides to go. After the dinner, Jane’s friends suggest that everyone should leave a generous tip for the waiter, increasing the total amount of money Jane has to pay. Jane decides to leave the tip anyway. Is Jane’s behaviour rational? Explain your answer based on your knowledge of assumptions of individual behaviour.

Social behaviour

2. Consider the following scenario: in the country of Zerkia the deer population has been hunted to a critical point, with very few deer left in the habitat. The government wants to introduce a regulation to address the problem. What are their options? Explain your answer based on your knowledge of tragedy of the commons.

3. Consider this scenario: Jane decides to buy a non-electric car. She knows that driving a car contributes to CO2 emissions, which will further contribute to climate change. However, she believes that buying one more car will not make a difference on the larger scale. Discuss Jane’s decision to buy a car with reference to the collective action problem.

Political behaviour

4. Consider the following scenario: In the country of Greenistan, the citizens are upset with the poor quality of air pollution (smog) in their cities. The government has previously said that they would address the situation and work on improving the air quality, but a few years have passed and no improvements have been observed. You are invited to give them advice on how they can best influence the government. What would you advise them to do: establish a political party or form an interest group? In your answer, compare these two forms of participation to justify your advice. Then, give examples of the tactics they would use and the challenges they may face to achieve their goal.

5. Consider the following scenario: you are having a conversation with your friend, Jane, who has recently become acquainted with anarchist views on government. Jane tells you that she sees no good arguments for existence of the government, as it only creates conflict and violence. What alternative views on the need of government could you present to Jane? Use your knowledge of social contract theories.

020000Questions:

Answer two of the following questions below. Answers must be 500 words each (+/-10%)

Individual behaviour

Social behaviour

Political behaviour

Answers

Question 1

Individual Behaviour: Jane’s Rationality in Individual Decision Making

Jane’s behavior and choice to participate in generously tipping the waiter is rational. However, her rationality is bounded rationality in that it is not an independent decision but is rather bounded on the situation at hand. The basic unit of society, according to rational choice theory, is the self-seeking person driven by the needs and desires to maximize their own benefits. In accordance with rational choice theory, individuals rely on logical calculations in order to make reasonable decisions, which result in results that are consistent with their own better position. As per the theory, Jane’s behavior best achieves her own best interests. She made a rational calculation that given her situation, the best action was to participate in “generously” tipping the waiter against her budget. More specifically, Jane’s actions and behavior were bounded rationality. In bounded rationality, we make decisions in which we strive to meet our goals rather than optimize them as much as possible. In other words, rather than attempting to choose the best alternative available, we seek a selection that will be sufficient. As a result of cognitive and time constraints, we are not disposed to find all of the crucial knowledge that would be required to reach a reasonable judgment. Therefore, we make judgments that are less than optimal, but which are nonetheless fulfilling.

When an individual just considers the information and resources that are genuinely available to them, the resultant judgments are still reasonable; yet, when the individual considers all of the available information and resources, their decisions may not be reasonable. In spite of the fact that it is difficult to conduct business in accordance with complete economic rationality, which is to maximize benefits while simultaneously minimizing costs, making judgments based on limited rationality may lead an individual to act in a manner that is at odds with our objectives. Because of the limitations of the human brain capacity (which is primarily due to cognitive biases), time, and readily available knowledge, one must make decisions by relying on shortcuts wherever possible. However, while these shortcuts make it easier for a person to make decisions, they also place a burden on their ability to be rational, leading them to reach less than optimum conclusions in some situations.

With the confines of the rational choice theory and bounded rationality explored as above, Jane’s behavior can thus be regarded as rational. She weighed the available options at the time and make a quick decision based on her own reasoning. Bounded rationality indicates that her decision was satisfying. However, it may not be optimal for her, especially with the afore-knowledge that she was operating under a tight budget. She made a good-enough decision at the time instead of the most optimal one in order to meet her own parameters of rationality.

Question 3

Social Behaviour: Jane’s Behaviour in Collective Action Problem Decision Making

Jane is caught up in a classic collective action problem. A collective action problem is a scenario in which the interests of the individual and the interests of the group are at odds with one another. When presented with this circumstance, each member of the group must choose between acting selfishly and acting collaboratively. Individuals always keep the best interests of the group in mind when dealing with a problem that necessitates collective action, regardless of what the other individuals are doing. On the other hand, when individuals behave in a selfish manner, they will all bear the repercussions of their conduct, as opposed to when they behave in a cooperative manner. Or, to put it another way, while it is in the individual’s best interests to act selfishly, it is in the collective’s best interests for everyone to collaborate. In this circumstance, the interests of individuals and the interests of the community are at conflict with one another.

Problems with collective action arise when people are disinclined to take action as a result of their circumstances. During the course of his landmark work, The Logic of Collective Action, author Mancur Olson analyzed the conditions under which collective action difficulties would arise, and he observed that they were particularly widespread among organized interests. When the perceived gain is inadequate to outweigh the costs involved with engaging in the action, people are more likely to refrain from taking action. Despite the fact that many people may take an issue with concepts such as environmental preservation, these issues are not always strong enough to motivate them to become politically engaged. In reality, most individuals do nothing about most problems, either because they do not feel passionately enough about them or because their actions are unlikely to have a significant impact on whether a particular policy gets approved. As a result, there is a disincentive for Jane to fully engage in environmental preservation because she would argue that her indulgence would not make a difference. Her belief that buying an extra vehicle would not make a difference in relation to climate change and environmental preservation is a selfish decision and one that perfectly denotes collective action problem.

Individuals frequently choose to engage in activities that generate significant amounts of greenhouse gases, while society as a whole may benefit from less climate change. Similarly, people frequently desire to drive automobiles in order to move around more quickly, yet driving increases air pollution, which is harmful to the entire community. Jane’s behaviour in buying a second car would lead to the society overall being worse off if every one took a similar route in decision making. Her individual decision serves her immediate need/want to own a second car because it would be good for her, knowing that the same decision would make the society worse off.

Note-taking pages

Use this space to write the outlines of each of your questions.