Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action

“Instead of there being a single solution to a single problem, I argue that many solutions exist to cope with many different problems. Instead of presuming that optimal institutions can be designed easily and imposed at low cost by external authorities, I argue that ‘getting institutions right’ is a difficult, time-consuming, and conflict-invoking process.”

In exposing The Flaws of Collective Action Theories, Ostrom argues that simplistic solutions do not resolve problems associated with small-scale CPRs. Traditional theories of collective action prescribe either privatization or central governmental control over CPRs to prevent their ruination. Her case studies demonstrate that such remedies do not work. Instead, there are multiple ways to resolve each problem, depending on local conditions.

“The key to my argument is that some individuals have broken out of the trap inherent in the commons dilemma, whereas others continue remorsefully trapped into destroying their own resources. This leads me to ask what differences exist between those who have broken the shackles of a commons dilemma and those who have not.”

Ostrom chose case studies in which individuals have failed to resolve the commons dilemma and others in which successful management has been achieved. She seeks to uncover The Conditions for Successfully Managing Common Pool Resources. She identifies design principles for the successful cases and notes the absence of those principles in the failures.

“Many policy prescriptions are themselves no more than metaphors. Both the centralizers and the privatizers frequently advocate oversimplified, idealized institutions—paradoxically, almost ‘institution-free’ institutions.”

Traditional theories of collective action prescribe general policies that are meaningless in practice, which Ostrom highlights as one of the flaws of collective action theories. Such theories offer no guidance about important details, such as limitations on authority, selection of its personnel, monitoring of performance, and others. These impractical prescriptions do more harm than good.