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Cooperation without Trust: Overcoming Collective Action Barriers to Endangered Species Protection
Author(s) -
Raymond Leigh
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
policy studies journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.773
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1541-0072
pISSN - 0190-292X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1541-0072.2006.00144.x
Subject(s) - collective action , action (physics) , context (archaeology) , social capital , endangered species , incentive , public relations , politics , political science , process (computing) , business , public economics , economics , ecology , microeconomics , habitat , biology , paleontology , physics , quantum mechanics , computer science , law , operating system
Mutual trust among individuals is frequently cited as an important factor in encouraging collective action, particularly in environmental policy settings. Yet the precise role of trust in the collective action process remains uncertain. This article explores the hypothesis that trust is overrated as a cause of cooperation. It initially tests this hypothesis through two case studies of voluntary collective action in a new context: the creation of multiactor Habitat Conservation Plans to protect endangered species. The two cases suggest that institutional mechanisms and political leadership can play an important role in encouraging collective action without relying on trust among cooperators. Besides their theoretical implications, the results suggest policymakers might spend more energy on creating incentives and assurance mechanisms to encourage collaboration, rather than the potentially fruitless task of building of social capital among rival stakeholders.