Water Users Association and Irrigation Management - Institute for ...

of self-interest, of the interest of the others, of what constitute good behavior and the
relative weights of these in individual decisions. Collective dependence on local resources
is often institutionalized in religion, folklore and tradition.
These two schools of collective action arise from two long opposed traditions in social
science. Even then the contrasting schools of 'rational choice' and 'moral economy'
construct rather similar images of collective action. 3 However, the debate as to whether
South Asian peasants arc 'moral" or 'rational" (Scott 1976; Popkin 1979) illustrates the fact
that the values they adopt are variables and not universal constants.
However, a closely related view of the diftlculty of getting individuals to pursue their joint
welfare, as contrasted to individual welfare, was developed by Olson (1965). Olson
specifically set out to challenge the grand optimism expressed in group theory that
individuals with common interests would voluntary act so as to try to further strengthen
those interests (Bentely 1949; Truman 1958). The argument of non-cooperation rests
largely on the premise that one who cannot be excluded from obtaining the benefits of a
collective good once the good is produced has little incentive to contribute voluntarily to
the provision or maintenance of that good. The logic of the individual rational utility seeker
may not coincide with the logic of community. If, for example, farmers individually
observe that their leaky watercourse requires improvement, they will not invest in
corrective action on individually rational grounds. Because if some farmer invests time and
resources to improve the watercourse and the others would enjoy a substantial share of
benefits at no personal cost, then it becomes rational to be a free rider. Hence the collective
action may not automatically evolve, even though the individuals in question may possess
full and accurate information about the potential benefits of improving the watercourse and
may have the required know-how and resources to do so.
The tragedy of the commons and the prisoner's dilemma are closely related concepts that
have defined the accepted way of viewing many problems that individuals face while
3 In "Rational Choice" associated with Thomas Hobbes and Adam Smith. a person is first of all a rational self
interested individual (homo economic us). while in " Moral Economy" associated with Durkheim, a person is
first a social being (homo Socialogicus) guided by social norms and then only an individual.
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