User:Femke/Governing the Commons

Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action is a 1990 book by Elinor Ostrom. The book details how communities create institutions to govern common resources like fish and water and how these institutions perform. It transformed the research field. Book chapter:

The book challenges the idea that the only two solutions to a tragedy of the commons problem is to privatise and divy up the common resource, or for the governments to regulate it. Instead, Ostrom argues that self-governance by communities that use common good can be the most effective governing strategy. Users of the resource may have higher stakes and better information about who is breaking the rules. The book describes eight design principles for institutions that can govern resources effectively.

The book was based on extensive field research,

Content
The book has

Reception and influence
Kenneth Arrow described the book as her masterpiece.