What Collective Action Problems Did The Articles Of Confederation Have?

[Russ]

emphasis on collective action..

[Eburscon]

The Articles as written didn't have any collective action problems per se.  The States, under the Articles, could have taken cooperative action in any number of areas.  And, since the Articles could be amended, Congress could have done anything it wanted.  However, in practical terms, there was no cooperative action under the Articles.   The Articles basically gave no power to Congress.  Congress could make laws, but not enforce them.    Congress could not levy taxes and was dependent on the States for funds.  Not surprisingly, the result was the Congress was constantly underfunded.  Congress also had no power to regulate trade.  So each state could have a different set of tarriffs and port fees.  Also, since each State was considered soverign, they could levy tarriffs on any goods shipped across state lines.  Each state printed it's own currency, making any "national" currency worthless.  The result of all of this was an almost prostrate national economy.   Each state had a separate army(some called them militias), and navy(except for a couple.)  This made it almost impossible for the nation to take any concerted military defensive, let alone offensive, actions.  For example, U.S. trade ships were vulnerable to pirates.  Also, key provisions of the Treaty of Paris were not enforced, resulting in continued British occupation of  forts in the Northwest territory, which, under the terms of the treaty, had been given to the US.   Finally, the Articles could only be amended by a unanimous approval of the states.    The result of all of this was a mish-mosh of foreign policies, since every State had the powers of a soverign nation.  Perhaps the biggest issue in the post-Revolutionary period was the repayment of war debts by the States.  Some paid them off in full, or nearly so, while others made no payments on the debts.  This made it almost impossible for the "nation" to obtain credit abroad, and severely inhibited foreign investment.    There was no national system of justice.  So, from state to state laws could vary widely and no state owed any other "full faith and credit."   Ironically, the stated purpose of the Constitutional Convention was to "fix" the Articles.  Instead, of course, it totally trashed them.   http://www.icsd.k12.ny.us/highschool/pjordan/ushonors/Regents%20Review/Review%20Lessons/articlesofconfederation.html   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Articles_of_confederation#Function

[Ning]

Every action had to be collective, so every action was a problem The Articles as written didn't have any collective action problems per se.  The States, under the Articles, could have taken cooperative action in any number of areas.  And, since the Articles could be amended, Congress could have done anything it wanted.  However, in practical terms, there was no cooperative action under the Articles.   The Articles basically gave no power to Congress.  Congress could make laws, but not enforce them.    Congress could not levy taxes and was dependent on the States for funds.  Not surprisingly, the result was the Congress was constantly underfunded.  Congress also had no power to regulate trade.  So each state could have a different set of tarriffs and port fees.  Also, since each State was considered soverign, they could levy tarriffs on any goods shipped across state lines.  Each state printed it's own currency, making any "national" currency worthless.  The result of all of this was an almost prostrate national economy.   Each state had a separate army(some called them militias), and navy(except for a couple.)  This made it almost impossible for the nation to take any concerted military defensive, let alone offensive, actions.  For example, U.S. trade ships were vulnerable to pirates.  Also, key provisions of the Treaty of Paris were not enforced, resulting in continued British occupation of  forts in the Northwest territory, which, under the terms of the treaty, had been given to the US.   Finally, the Articles could only be amended by a unanimous approval of the states.    The result of all of this was a mish-mosh of foreign policies, since every State had the powers of a soverign nation.  Perhaps the biggest issue in the post-Revolutionary period was the repayment of war debts by the States.  Some paid them off in full, or nearly so, while others made no payments on the debts.  This made it almost impossible for the "nation" to obtain credit abroad, and severely inhibited foreign investment.    There was no national system of justice.  So, from state to state laws could vary widely and no state owed any other "full faith and credit."   Ironically, the stated purpose of the Constitutional Convention was to "fix" the Articles.  Instead, of course, it totally trashed them.   http://www.icsd.k12.ny.us/highschool/pjordan/ushonors/Regents%20Review/Review%20Lessons/articlesofconfederation.html   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Articles_of_confederation#Function   PoorRichard's Recommendations Articles Of Confederation, The Amazon List Price: $24.90 Used from: $5.73 Evaluating The Articles Of Confederation: Determining The Validity Of Information And Arguments(Critical Thinking in American History) Amazon List Price: $26.50 Used from: $18.55 The Articles of Confederation: A Primary Source Investigation into the Document That Preceded the U.S. Constitution(Great American Political Documents) Amazon List Price: $31.95 Used from: $25.88 The Articles of Confederation Amazon List Price: $9.95 Used from: $6.05 The Constitutions of Several of the States of the Union and United States, Including The Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation Used from: $4.75 PoorRichard 75 months ago Please sign in to give a compliment. Please verify your account to give a compliment. Please sign in to send a message. Please verify your account to send a message.