ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the claim that, although not necessary for the production of public goods, monopolies of force are nonetheless inevitable due to the combined influence of the iron law of oligarchy and the collective action problem. More specifically, the suggestion of this chapter is that both of these concepts appeal exclusively to the importance of incentive structures, while overlooking the fact that the shape of these structures is crucially conditioned by the configuration of the underlying preferences and ideologies, just as the shape of hard institutional frameworks is crucially conditioned by the configuration of the underlying customs, traditions, and social norms.
