Marc Pierson’s Community Weblog

Governing the Commons: an important idea for communities and the management of the limited resources for health and wellness along with illness.

Here are Elinor Ostrom list of rules for successful governance of a common pool resource:

1. Clearly defined boundaries

Individuals or households who have rights to withdraw resource units from the CPR must be clearly defined, as must the boundaries of the CPR itself.

2. Congruence between appropriation and provision rules and local conditions

Appropriation rules restricting time, place, technology, and/or quantity of resource units are related to local conditions and to provision rules requireing labor, material, and/or money.

3. Collective-choice arrangements

Most individuals affected by the operational rules can participate in modifying the institutional rules.

4. Monitoring

Monitors, who actively audit CPR conditions and appropriator behavior, are accountable to the appropriators or or the appropriators.

5. Graduated sanctions

Appropriators who violate operational rules are likely to be assessed graduated sanctions (depending on the seriousness and context of the offense) by other appropriators, by officials accountable to the appropriators, or by both.

6. Conflict-resolution mechanisms

Appropriators and their officials have rapid access to low-cost local arenas to resolve conflicts among appropriators or between appropriators and officials.

7. Minimal recognition of rights to organize

The rights of appropriators to devise their own institutions are not challenged by external governmental authorities.

8. Nested enterprises (CPRs that are parts of larger systems).

Appropriation (Rule 1), provision (Rule 2), monitoring (Rule 4), enforcement (Rule 5), conflict resolution Rule 6), and governance activities (Rules 3 & 7) are organized in multiple layers of nested enterprises.