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Prisoner's Dilemma Term Paper We live in a world where people do not always do the right, moral thing and sometimes have a tendency to look after themselves and their own first. In most cases, it is more important for a person to benefit from a situation regardless of the outcome for the other(s) involved. Self-interest motivates people’s actions whether these actions appear moral or not. With this in mind, it seems almost impossible for cooperation to exist and to help improve a potential problem if one arises. However, we do know that cooperation does occur and that our civilization is greatly based upon it. It is the sovereign that controls people’s actions and limits their personal self interests. The sovereign enforces cooperation to benefit society. But according to certain arguments placed by the Prisoner’s Dilemma, the sovereign cannot succeed in limiting people‘s self-interest. People may ask themselves just how much assistance they would offer to someone who never helps them in return. For instance, a journalist who has received “gossip” news may give ample story coverage to the source in hopes that the source will continue “leaking” information. People want the best possible outcome from any sit