In any jurisdiction, has anyone tried the honor system, and how did it work out?

My local library has RFID-based self checkout machines for when I want to check out a book. Library staff doesn’t check out books any more. So the process could be considered ‘honor system’ in the sense that there isn’t a person standing at the door checking what I have in my backpack.

(However, they do have RFID detectors by the exit that will beep if you walk out with an unchecked-out book, so there’s that sort of disincentive.

Girl Scouts ran on the honor system. Ran mostly well with few exceptions. Where I work our times are on the honor system, too. That works very well, but so do most things when you work for a small, very small, company.

In rural Hawaii there are roadside fruit and vegetable stands with a “drop box” to put the cash in for pineapples, bananas and papayas . . . etc !

Works good for me !

In the US we’ve sort of got that system in place when it comes to disclosure of Presidntial conflicts of interest, and ethical conduct for Supreme Court justices.

Turns out it really, really, really sucks.