In a village, only one family can afford to build a boundary wall and hire a private security guard. The rest of the villagers remain unprotected. How does this example illustrate the argument for collective provision of services over individual provision?
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-26 13:23 · grounding rag
Model Answer
When only one family builds a boundary wall and hires a security guard, the rest of the village remains unprotected. This shows that individual provision of security is costly and unequal. If the village collectively arranges security, everyone benefits at a much lower cost per person. Thus, collective provision is both cheaper and more equitable than individual provision.
Source: Chapter 1, Public Facilities section
---
Explanation
The examiner expects you to:
- Link the example directly to the idea that individual provision leaves most people unprotected, while collective provision covers everyone at lower cost.
- Use the textbook argument: "Will it be cheaper to have collective security for the whole locality or for each house to have its own security staff?"
- Mention both the equity angle (unprotected majority) and the efficiency/cost angle for full marks.