Brainstorm various scenarios that also exemplify the tragedy of the commons problem.

One of the scenarios that I brainstormed concerning the tragedy of the commons would be The Stag Hunt and Social Choice. According to our textbook “The Stag Hunt demonstrates how the interdependence of actions and choices affects collective efforts to attain a goal, such as the preservation of the commons” Van Belle, D. A. (2016). The scenario given is that Bob’s father, Bah, is a hunter and has a tough decision to make regarding the hunting of a rabbit. If he and the other hunters stay in formation in a circle they have 75% chance of killing the stag, which feeds everyone for two days. However, the rabbit is right in front of him he has a 100% chance of getting it but can only feed his family for one day. That stag hunt is a collective effort meaning Bah must also consider the other hunter’s choices and how they might impact the hunt as well as the possibility that someone else will break from the circle to take the rabbit. The social choice is a dynamic illustration of the stag hunt and what drives even the enlightened to overexploit the commons. “This dynamic is exacerbated by the economic realities of the situation” Van Belle, D. A. (2016). 

Describe one of your scenarios you brainstormed concerning the tragedy of the commons.

The scenario that I brainstormed concerning the tragedy of the commons is The Stag Hunt. This game describes a conflict between safety and social cooperation. Other names for it or its variants include assurance game, coordination game, and the trust dilemma. The stag hunt is broken down into terms of a situation in which two individuals go out on a hunt. Each individual chooses to hunt a stag or hunt a hare. Each person much chooses an action without knowing the choice of the other. If a person hunts a stag he must have the cooperation of his partner in order to succeed. At the same time, an individual can get a hare by himself but a hare is worth less than a stag. This is taken to be an important analogy for social cooperation. 

Discuss some of the potential political problems for governments to resolve that this tragedy would produce.

The closest approximation of this is International Relations are universal treaties, like the Kyoto Protocol environmental treaty. In the long term, environmental regulation, in theory, protects us all, but even if most of the countries sign the treaty and regulate, some like China and the US will not for sovereignty reasons, or because they are experiencing great economic gain. 

Finally, explain how the scenario is a conflict between the ideal and the real

The game is said to be in Nash Equilibrium when no player has the incentive to change their strategy given the strategies of all other players that are playing. The scenario is also a conflict because if there is not cooperation an issue can not simply be taken care of properly. 

REFERENCES

Van Belle, D. A. (2016). A novel approach to politics. Thousand Oaks, CA: CQ Press.