Originated by Elinor Ostrom (Governing the Commons, 1990).
Eight conditions, from clear boundaries and fitting rules to graduated sanctions and nested governance, that long-lived shared-resource arrangements tend to meet and failed ones tend to miss.
When to reach for it
Several teams or groups draw on a shared resource (a budget, a platform, a service), and the arrangement is fraying or about to be redesigned.
How it runs
- Confirm the resource is shared and drawn on by many users.
- Check boundaries: what the resource is and who may use it.
- Check that rules fit local conditions and users can change them.
- Check monitoring, graduated penalties, and cheap dispute settlement.
- Check that outside authorities respect the users' rules.
- Strengthen the weakest principle first.
Where it sits in SOLVE eX
Go to the source
- Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action, Cambridge University Press, 1990