Mancur Olson

"The stability of social order depends on institutions that make defection costly and cooperation rewarding."

"Groups must provide something more than collective goods to maintain member participation."

"The logic of collective action applies to all voluntary organizations regardless of their goals."

"Selective incentives are not corrupt additions to group purposes but essential to group survival."

"The public interest often loses to special interests because it is rationally ignored by voters."

"Encompassing organizations have incentives to consider the welfare of the whole society."

"Economic decline can be reversed by breaking down the institutional obstacles to collective action."

"The theory of collective action shows why markets sometimes work better than group decision-making."

"Groups with concentrated membership are more efficient at using lobbying resources than dispersed groups."

"Institutional arrangements that worked in wartime often become liabilities during peace."

"The rationality of individual behavior can produce irrationality in group outcomes."

"Special interests cannot be defeated simply by appeals to the public good."

"The size of a group is inversely related to its ability to organize effective collective action."

"Democratic systems require checks against the power of organized special interests."

"The benefits of cooperation are often captured by those with the best organizational capacity."

"Nations that fail to renew their institutions gradually lose their competitive advantage."

"The free rider problem persists because it reflects the fundamental nature of collective goods."

"Institutions that were revolutionary can become ossified obstacles to progress."

"The theory of collective action applies to social movements as well as to business organizations."

"Selective incentives can take forms that have little to do with the stated purposes of organizations."

"The public interest is poorly served by voters who rationally remain ignorant about policy details."

"Encompassing organizations internalize the costs of their actions on society."

"The logic of collective action explains why stable alliances are inherently fragile."

"Institutions accumulate like barnacles on a ship, eventually slowing its progress."

"The distribution of power in groups reflects not merit but organizational effectiveness."

"Rational individuals will free ride on others' contributions when possible."

"Groups must evolve their incentive structures as circumstances change or face decline."

"The success of democratic capitalism depends on managing the collective action problems inherent in it."

"Interest group pluralism often produces deadlock rather than the common good."

"Institutions that survive change are typically those that can provide new selective incentives."