"Relational Good" and Participation: Incorporating Sociability into a Theory of Rational Action

In: Public choice, Band 62, Heft 3, S. 253-285

Abstract

Rational actor models & various theoretical modifications to explain individual participation in politics are not entirely satisfactory & do not take into account by-products of interaction as motivation for choice. "Relational goods," or those goods that can be enjoyed only through collective sharing in a group, are examined as a distinctive type of good that compels individual participation. A typology of relational goods is outlined & the role of a network of influences in direct-contact relational goods is described. Other relational goods characterized as indirect-contact goods are divided into subgroups of instrumental or consumption goods that take the form of payoffs as a function of the utility of action increasing with magnitude of participation & mobilization of benefits. The relational goods approach is also applied to other areas of collective action, & evidence on its existence & hypothesized effects are examined among English- & French-Canadian, US, Dutch, & Asian cultures. 2 Tables, 4 Figures, 54 References. T. Francis