- Hello, and welcome back to Poli Sci 110. Today we will be discussing the constitution of the United States and how it helped to address collective action problems that had emerged among the different states at that time. If you are unfamiliar with the term collective action problem, that's perfectly okay I will be familiarizing you with this term today. I really want us to imagine that the constitution solved very specific problems that the states were facing at that time. So not only is the constitution a fundamental document that outlines how our political institutions and processes work, but it was also the result of compromise between the various states in order to solve very specific problems. And many of those problems can be classified as collective action problems as I will outline here. So, the American constitution was designed to address these problems in particular, a there being a weak central government. I had mentioned that the constitution was a compromise among various states. Some states that is delegates from some states back in 1787 were concerned that the federal government might become too powerful. Other delegates were concerned that there was two little power within the central or federal government as well. And out of this compromise that occurred during the Constitutional Convention in 1787, emerged a system today known as federalism. Federalism which we will cover during the next chapter, involves a framework of powers, some of which are delegated to the national or federal government, others are delegated to the state governments or to the people. Now, even though it's easy to think of the constitution as simply the fundamental law of the land, is actually much more than that. There are reasons why the constitution says certain things or gives particular powers to the federal government as opposed to the states. Our constitution was designed to solve collective action problems. These are problems that occur whenever groups of individuals or nations would be made better off by cooperating with each other but their short term interests prevent them from cooperating. This seems a little abstract, that's perfectly fine, I will give you more concrete examples. The idea here is that the US states, 13 at that point in time faced external threats, it was uncertain for example, if there would be an invasion from abroad again. It was difficult for example, to raise money in order to fight the revolutionary war. Some states might want to impose trained limits or barriers against other states. And so the constitution was hammered out in order to or negotiated in order to solve these different problems that could arise among the states, these collective action problems. Now before the constitution, there existed a document known as the Articles of Confederation. This document emerged in the mid 1770s. It helped to establish one of the first governments that united the different states prior to the American revolution. The Articles of Confederation however, established a very weak central government, a very weak Congress. Under the Articles of Confederation, the Continental Congress was really not able to do a whole lot. It couldn't really raise taxes or fight the revolutionary war effectively. It could coin money and also deal with diplomacy and foreign affairs, but it was a weak government. It had to achieve the permission of nine out of the 13 states in order to make a lot of these efforts where take a lot of these actions, and in order to change the Articles of Confederation, every single one of the 13 states had to agree. And so the original Congress known as the Continental Congress was very weak under the Articles of Confederation. And there arose a somewhat of a consensus that our central government is so weak that we have to have some sort of reform, there has to be a new constitution. As an example, under the Articles of Confederation, the Continental Congress could not raise the sufficient funds to support war efforts. There are many letters between George Washington the general and the Congress involving funds and trying to get more money and support for example. It was an ongoing struggle. Congress under the Articles of Confederation could not force the states to give it more money. Instead the states were much more powerful under the articles, they gave money voluntarily to the central Congress and they gave troops voluntarily to the central Congress the Continental Congress as well. And so this framework where we had a weak central government and powerful state governments gave us various collective action problems. What is an example of a collective action problem? Remember during this time there was a collective threat, the British did not want to see independence within its American colonies. However, the central or Continental Congress could not raise all of the money or recruit all of the troops that it needed. Here we have on this slide, numbers of soldiers supplied to Congress as a percent of how many troops Congress had requested from each of the states. Some states gave a fairly decent number, New York for example gave 77% of the number of troops that Congress asked of it. However, most states gave a lot less including the Carolinas which each gave only 26%. And when it came to money, the percentages vary even more so, Georgia gave $0 for the revolutionary war effort, whereas a state New York gave 64% of what Congress was requesting. Why would states not give all of the money or all of the troops requested of them? The answer is that different states would have benefited differently from fighting the war. Some of the states were closer to battle sites and we're experiencing more damage or economic losses as a result of the war. Other states also simply felt more or higher levels of allegiance to the British crown than other states as well. And because the Continental Congress was weak, it could not force states to give it troops or funds in order to help fight this revolutionary war. And so the war lasted for a long time perhaps several years longer than was necessary. And this chart shows us the different percentages of money given from each state as a percent of how much Congress had asked. So this information was presented on the last slide as well. No state gave 100% of the funds that Congress had requested for the war effort. So we saw the emergence of a collective action problem where it wasn't simply the case that states may not agree or all be on the same page in terms of the war effort, but some states simply stood to gain a lot more than what other states had to gain from winning the war. And without a strong central government, other collective action problems emerged. Troops fighting were not being paid sufficiently, the national debt was not being paid. Spanish forces were occupying the Mississippi river for example, so additional foreign threats at this time were encroaching applied territory near the United States. And Congress was simply unable to address these issues and states began to turn on each other, they began to tax imports from each other. Here I have an illustration of various little fishes and two large fish. In the first situation, the little fishes are running away, they're not coordinated, they have a collective action problem. But if the second illustration at the bottom where my cursor is, we see that the small fish are coordinated. This is similar or helps to illustrate a collective action problem as well. And ultimately a rebellion known as Shays' Rebellion in Massachusetts help to convince state legislators that, look, we really do need a stronger central government. And ultimately a convention was organized in Philadelphia in 1787. That convention occurred in Independence Hall which you can visit to the modern day, the building is pretty well preserved. And so our constitution as negotiated by delegates from the 13 states throughout the summer and fall of 1787, is designed to solve collective action problems that can emerge between states. It gave us a much more or much stronger central government that can raise tax revenue for example and can fight a war more effectively. If we look in article one section eight of the constitution, we will find that Congress has a variety of powers delegated to it specifically for solving collective action problems. National defense was one of the primary functions of Congress, but also Congress has the power to engage in trade negotiations, to set weights and measures, to regulate interstate commerce, to make fiscal policy, to deal with immigration or the postal service for patents. These are all known as enumerated powers and each of them is intended to solve a collective action problem among the states. For example, let's take weights and measures. If different states were allowed to measure things differently or to require that private producers companies measure things differently, we might find the metric system used in one part of the country, and in the other part of the country, different kinds of measurements involving inches or feet. The point of having a uniform system of weights and measures is to help states to trade with each other to help make business easier. The federal government was giving the power to regulate interstate commerce so that states would not turn on each other and tax exports and imports. With the ratification of the constitution, the world's largest free trade zone was established between the 13th states. As you read more about the constitution, keep in mind that the convention and the document it produced helped to solve these problems that states encountered among themselves. Congress needed additional powers to address national problems. States had too many powers and the old Confederate system under the Articles of Confederation. And three of the major issues at play during that convention involved, how states of different sizes would be represented in Congress, the division of federal state powers and how the constitution would address slavery. There were of course many smaller issues as well. And it is true, many of you have heard before, the Constitutional Convention occurred in private, there were no lobbyists, there were no reporters there, this was to help make negotiations operate more smoothly or effectively when it came to the final document. There were 55 delegates from the 13 states and ultimately I think 39 of them signed the final document. And when it was ratified by nine states, with New Hampshire being the last state, it became the effective form of government that we known today and establish the Bicameral United States Congress, the president, and a federal judiciary. Thank you.