Ostrom Commons Governance
Status: active Date: 2026-05-07 Source: View source
Key Claims
- Elinor Ostrom documented 8 principles for successful commons self-governance
- Common Ground (Teheno) project applies Ostrom principles at community scale in Brazil
Summary
Elinor Ostrom’s 8 principles for governing commons successfully:
- Clearly defined boundaries (who belongs, what resources)
- Proportional equivalence of benefits and costs
- Collective-choice arrangements (most affected participate in rules)
- Monitoring (monitors accountable to community)
- Graduated sanctions (small violations handled locally)
- Conflict-resolution mechanisms (cheap and fast)
- Recognition of right to self-govern (not challenged by external authorities)
- Nested enterprises (multiple layers of governance for larger systems)
These principles emerged from studying thousands of real-world commons that succeeded without privatization or state control.