Mancur Olson’s The Logic Of Collective Action

Part I of Essay
In 1965 an intellectual bomb was dropped on the field of interest groups, in the form of . In this seminal work Olson details the dynamics of group formation. The central theory is that men and women are rational, correspondingly they maximize benefits and minimize costs ....

Part II of Essay
.... groups it applies, and the broad conceptual ideas the theory entails. The most important underlying assumption of the by-product theory is the rationality of man that is, people maximize benefits while minimizing costs. This cost-benefit analysis says that people want the maximum amount of benefits or results with the least amount of cost (money, time, etc.). A rational person will not join an interest group because the benefits do not outweigh the costs of joining. Olson limits the by-product theory to large and latent groups. This is ....