Polycentric Systems of Governance: A Theoretical Model for the Commons

Carlisle, Keith M.; Gruby, Rebecca L.

doi:10.1111/psj.12212

Cited by 401 publications

(374 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…This network of action situations constitutes the polycentric system that explains how the ABSL project has affected community-level inequality. It is a polycentric system because multiple semiautonomous arenas of decision making exist, which take each other into account in cooperative, coordinative, or conflictive manners (Carlisle and Gruby 2017). The project has increased inequalities within project-affected communities in two major ways.…”

Section: Sustainability Challenges In Linked Action Situations In Thementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Proponents of institutional analysis developed the concept and theory of "polycentric governance" to understand the emergence, change, and performance of complex governance systems (Ostrom 2010). Governance systems are polycentric if they involve multiple arenas of decision making, which operate with some degree of autonomy but are interlinked through processes of cooperation, coordination, or conflict Knieper 2014, Carlisle andGruby 2017). While telecoupling provides an analytical lens for distantly connected land systems, polycentricity provides a lens for interconnected governance arenas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Polycentric governance in telecoupled resource systems

Oberlack¹,

Boillat²,

Brönnimann³

et al. 2018

E&S

105

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ABSTRACT. Recent advances in land system science and in institutional analysis provide complementary, but still largely disconnected perspectives on land use change, governance, and sustainability in social-ecological systems, which are interconnected across distance. In this paper we bring together the emerging concept of telecoupled land systems and the established concept of polycentric governance to support the analysis and the development of sustainable land governance in interconnected social-ecological systems. We operationalize the two concepts by analyzing networks of action situations in which interactions between proximate and distant actors as well as socioeconomic and ecological processes cause land use change and affect the sustainability of land systems. To illustrate this integrated approach empirically, we analyze a case of transnational biofuel investment in Sierra Leone. We identify the characteristics of, and activities in, networks of action situations that affect the sustainability of land systems related to this case. Integration of the two concepts of telecoupled land systems and polycentric governance enables analysts to identify interactions in polycentric governance systems (1) as drivers of telecoupled sustainability problems and (2) as transformative approaches to such problems. The method provides one way for linking place-based analysis of land change with process-based analysis of land governance.

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Section: Sustainability Challenges In Linked Action Situations In Thementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polycentric governance in telecoupled resource systems

Oberlack¹,

Boillat²,

Brönnimann³

et al. 2018

E&S

105

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Polycentricity refers to a form of governance with multiple centers of semiautonomous decision making. Scholars have argued that if decision-making centers take each other into account in competitive and cooperative relationships and have recourse to conflict resolution mechanisms, they may be regarded as a polycentric governance system (Carlisle and Gruby 2017).…”

Section: Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

Social Science Perspectives on Drivers of and Responses to Global Climate Change

Jorgenson¹,

Fiske²,

Hubacek³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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This article provides a review of recent anthropological, archaeological, geographical, and sociological research on anthropogenic drivers of climate change, with a particular focus on drivers of carbon emissions, mitigation and adaptation. The four disciplines emphasize cultural, economic, geographic, historical, political, and social-structural factors to be important drivers of and responses to climate change. Each of these disciplines has unique perspectives and makes noteworthy contributions to our shared understanding of anthropogenic drivers, but they also complement one another and contribute to integrated, multidisciplinary frameworks. The article begins with discussions of research on temporal dimensions of human drivers of carbon emissions, highlighting interactions between long-term and near-term drivers. Next, descriptions of the disciplines' contributions to the understanding of mitigation and adaptation are provided. It concludes with a summary of key lessons offered by the four disciplines as well as suggestions for future research.

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“…We characterize the governance system's polycentricity and diagnose its functionality using criteria set out in a theoretical model of a functional polycentric governance system that we previously developed (Carlisle & Gruby, in press). The model comprises attributes that constitute defining elements of the concept, and enabling conditions that specify additional institutional features that scholars have posited as necessary or conducive to achieving commonly predicted advantages of polycentricity, as described in Section 5.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Section 3, we provide background on the case study setting, and in Section 4, we describe our methods. We then systematically characterize the governance system's polycentricity and evaluate its functionality in Section 5 using criteria specified in the theoretical model (Carlisle & Gruby, in press), before analyzing the system's transition to polycentricity in Section 6. We conclude in Section 7 with a discussion of the implications of our findings for policy and the research agenda on polycentricity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why the path to polycentricity matters: evidence from fisheries governance in Palau

Carlisle

Gruby

2018

Env Pol Gov

Self Cite

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Polycentricity, a complex form of governance characterized by multiple centers of semiautonomous decision‐making, has been embraced by commons scholars for the governance of complex natural resource systems. In this context, several benefits are commonly ascribed to polycentric governance systems, including enhanced adaptive capacity, mitigation of risk and provision of good institutional fit. We examine the functioning of a polycentric governance system through a qualitative case study of the governance of small‐scale fishing in the Northern Reef region of Palau where fishery resources have been declining in recent decades. By engaging a theoretical model of a functional polycentric governance system, we identify deficiencies in institutional features that partly explain why functionality is not fully achieved. Analysis of the historical transition of the governance system from community‐based to polycentric reveals that the path to polycentricity and contextual conditions constitute additional distal explanations of deficiencies in functionality. The findings suggest that transitioning from community‐based to polycentric governance risks producing conditions conducive to crowding‐out and erosion of rule compliance where the form of polycentricity assumed entails primarily higher‐level government decision‐makers with insufficient capacity for rule implementation. The case underlines the need for more refined theory concerning the emergence and functionality of different forms polycentric governance systems in various contexts.

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Polycentric Systems of Governance: A Theoretical Model for the Commons

Cited by 401 publications

References 59 publications

Polycentric governance in telecoupled resource systems

Polycentric governance in telecoupled resource systems

Social Science Perspectives on Drivers of and Responses to Global Climate Change

Why the path to polycentricity matters: evidence from fisheries governance in Palau

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