Governing the Commons

Selected reading: Institutions, enforcement and commons-governance arguments.

Cambridge University Press, 2015 edition; ISBN 9781107569782; originally published 1990

View the work and reading plans

How to study this source

• Why do some societies prosper?

  coreInstitutions, enforcement and commons-governance arguments

  Choose one case and map participants, boundaries, monitoring and sanctions.

• Under what conditions can a shared resource be governed collectively?

  coreIntroduction or preface and opening chapter. Record the edition and translator before reading.

  Research on how people organise shared resources. Compare actual rules, monitoring and conflict resolution rather than assuming a single governance solution.

• Under what conditions can a shared resource be governed collectively?

  coreComplete main text; the sequential locations below cover the whole work.

  Research on how people organise shared resources. Compare actual rules, monitoring and conflict resolution rather than assuming a single governance solution.

Ideas and questions

Read background definitions when a term blocks the argument. Then return to the source and reconstruct its claim in your own words.

Read alongside, read against

• Institutions as the Fundamental Cause of Long-Run Growth

  Acemoglu, Johnson · Robinson. Compare assumptions, evidence and scope with the source above. These are editorial companions, not necessarily direct responses.

• The Rise and Decline of Nations

  Mancur Olson. Compare assumptions, evidence and scope with the source above. These are editorial companions, not necessarily direct responses.

• The Logic of Collective Action

  Mancur Olson. Compare assumptions, evidence and scope with the source above. These are editorial companions, not necessarily direct responses.

• The Mystery of Capital

  Hernando de Soto. Compare assumptions, evidence and scope with the source above. These are editorial companions, not necessarily direct responses.

• Poor Economics

  Abhijit Banerjee · Esther Duflo. Compare assumptions, evidence and scope with the source above. These are editorial companions, not necessarily direct responses.