Collective action
Collective action, coordination & selective incentives
The Square
Everyone wants change. Who’s going to show up?
You are one citizen among twenty. Predict what the others will do, decide whether to act and test what changes when incentives and communication shift. Shared interests are only the beginning.
Play on your own. Choose Just exploring for optional notes, or For class for a response record you can submit. You can switch inside the simulation.
What you can explore
- Explain pivotality and the difference between individual and collective incentives.
- Compare communication, coordination and selective incentives.
- Separate model behavior from empirical prediction.
What the model leaves open
The other nineteen citizens are programmed. Controlled rehearsals illustrate mechanisms; they do not forecast real political behavior.
AFTERWARD, THINK ABOUT
What made acting individually costly or worthwhile?
Teaching this activity Debrief, assessment & assignment draft
Bring it back to the room
- What made acting individually costly or worthwhile?
- Which comparison isolates the programmed intervention?
What to assess
Assess payoff reasoning, forecasts and explanation of the comparison. Participation in the model is not a moral grade.
Read the complete teaching guide ↗Make it an assignment.
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