Prisoner Dilemma Case Study

“Prisoner Dilemma” is almost like a game used by the government and police departments throughout the country to show why rational individuals might or will not cooperate, even if it would be better to do so. The situation in this case is, two suspects are arrested by the police and there is not enough evidence for a conviction, the prisoners have been separated to cut off their communication with each other. They are both going to be offered a deal, if one can testify against the other and one stays silent, the testifier will be set free and the silent man will serve 10-years in prison. Next, if they both can remain silent, then they will both serve only 6 months for a minor charge. If they both betray each other, each will serve a five-year …show more content…
This is seen in politics a lot because in the end we all want what is best for us, and usually what is best is whoever is making the most money, even though in the end there is a chance that it could all fail due to an over use of resources, much like “The Tragedy of The Commons”. If all people were to work together and actually cooperate, then they would be able to all succeed, but the thought that if you were to use maybe just a little more resource to better your own situation comes along, then people will start doing whatever they can to do better than other or just do the best they can, but if everyone is doing this, then there will be no more resources and it will all fail. This is believed to happen because people are selfish, but in fact it does not matter how generous a person can be, if a situation can fit the stricter, no matter the cost or benefits of the situation, people will be facing a “Prisoner’s Dilemma”. Another way the “Prisoners Dilemma” is also a part of politics is because it helps enforce rules within the community or the country that keep people from making the choice of doing better than others and risking a “Tragedy of the commons” situation, therefore falling into the “Prisoners Dilemma”. Alongside with having rules, there needs to be people that enforce those rules of justice, because just having the rules alone is not enough because people will still violate the rules for their self-benefit, this is where an absolute authority will come along to enforce the rules and punish those who choose to not obey them, in other words this is government. Government keeping people in line and not over using the resources causing a “Tragedy of the