What Are the Commons?
The Commons refers to those things that are useful to all but owned by none.
there are many kinds of commons. Traditional examples include forests, fish, minerals and groundwater. But increasingly we see the term used for a broader set of domains, like urban, digital and cultural commons. These are a shared heritage, and the essential medium that allows us to live, move, collaborate and flourish.
A Force of History
tragedy of the commons
In 1968, writer and ecologist, Garrett Hardin, wrote a famous essay in the journal Science titled ‘The Tragedy of the Commons,’ arguing that when people share a common resource, they will inevitably over-harvest it because it is in their individual interest to take as much from the resource as possible. Depletion of the commons could, he contended, only be prevented by privatizing property rights or governmental regulation.
overcoming the tragedy
Since Hardin’s essay, an increasing awareness has emerged that “tragedy” is not the only possible outcome when people share a common resource. There are, in fact, many examples of long-lasting communities that have maintained their shared resources effectively without having to resort to resource privatization or governmental regulation.
evolving governance
In her 1990 publication, Governing the Commons, political scientist Elinor Ostrom, examined many such case studies and developed a theoretical framework through which communities could overcome the tragedy of the commons. This work earned her the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2009.
the alaska model
As consultants to Alaska’s 1955 constitutional convention, Elinor and her husband Vincent were responsible for drafting Alaska’s unique natural resource provisions, ensuring Alaska’s resources remain in the public domain and be managed as a public trust. This was a pioneering model for Commons governance in the United States, which has become core to our mission at the Institute of the North.
applied best practices
We apply leading ideas around Commons governance in a real-world context. Through stakeholder engagement, research and policy advocacy, we work to maximize the benefits of local resources to local communities at home, across the Arctic, and throughout the developing world.
Recommended Reading
Some publications over the years have become must-reads for anyone involved in Commons issues. Governor Hickel expanded our thinking on the Commons in an Alaska context. Our top recommendations are listed below.
Hickel, Walter J.
Crisis in the Commons: The Alaska Solution
Ostrom, Elinor
‘Beyond markets and states: Polycentric governance of complex economic systems’ American Economic Review 100, no. 3 (2010): 641-72.
Thomas Dietz, Elinor Ostrom, and Paul C. Stern, 2003. ‘The struggle to govern the commons’
Science 302 (5652): 1907-12
David Feeny et al., 1990.
‘The tragedy of the commons: twenty-two years later’
Human Ecology 18(1): 1-19
Bromley, Daniel W. and David Feeny, eds.
Making the commons work: Theory, practice, and policy
San Francisco, CA: ICS Press, 1992
Ostrom, Elinor
Governing the commons. The evolution on institutions for collective action. Cambridge University Press, Political economy of institutions and decisions series, 1990