Difference between revisions of "The Tragedy of the Commons"
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* The ''Commons Dilemma'' as it is now known looks at the case where people interest in maximizing their own welfare, destroy the common good on which they all rely. | * The ''Commons Dilemma'' as it is now known looks at the case where people interest in maximizing their own welfare, destroy the common good on which they all rely. | ||
* In the context of [[Identity Management]] the commons is the internet and all of the resource available on it that require some proof from the user before access is granted. It is also the collected contant of the internet what needs proof from the user as to the reliability of that content. | * In the context of [[Identity Management]] the commons is the internet and all of the resource available on it that require some proof from the user before access is granted. It is also the collected contant of the internet what needs proof from the user as to the reliability of that content. | ||
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| + | ==The Commons== | ||
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| + | Commons do have external boundaries, but typically not internal boundaries. In its earliest uses, "commons" referred to natural resources like pastures and forests, which local inhabitants could use for cattle-grazing, hunting, and other agrarian pursuits. Today, "commons" often defined more broadly than that, especially in general public dis-course. Public parks and beaches are frequently tagged as such, as are air, water, and public libraries. Creative works in the public domain are part of the public commons too, as are language itself, written alpha-bets, many computer languages, the recipe for an Old Fashioned, or even the view of Orion on a clear, dark night. | ||
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| + | Among academics, "commons" are often more narrowly defined than in popular understanding. Elinor Ostrom, an influential political scientist who received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2009 for her work on commons, identified eight principles that characterize successful "common-pool resource" institutions. In total, these principles create the blueprint for a communal resource that is significantly more circumscribed than air or the recipe for an Old Fashioned is. In Ostrom's conception, a commons is an intentionally managed resource with a defined community of users. This version of a commons has clearly defined boundaries of access, graduated sanctions for rule violations, and other explicitly articulated and operationalized governance features. In many ways, a commons is governed by the sort of rules wed expect from a homeowners association. | ||
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| + | Broader conceptions of common resources leave more room for variance and often place more emphasis on open access than governance. Sometimes a resource is owned by all (or none), such as the recipe for an Old Fashioned or that view of Orion. In other instances, the resource has an owner, or collective ownership, but it still remains broadly accessible. For example, public parks and public libraries might be owned by local governments and funded by local taxpayers. They might charge usage fees of various sorts but they remain accessible to all. | ||
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| + | ==Problems== | ||
| + | Aristotle states that “it is a fact of common observation that those who own common property, and share in its management, are far more at variance with one another than those who have property separately.” Private property unambiguously allocates resources, while collective ownership can lead to disputes over what each person deserves." | ||
==Solutions== | ==Solutions== | ||
Latest revision as of 13:02, 13 April 2025
Full Title or Meme
A situation in which individual users, who have open access to a resource unhampered by shared social structures or formal rules that govern access and use of that resource.
Context
- Prior to an article The Tragedy of the Commons by Garrett Hardin[1] the term The Commons found little use in scholarly articles.
- The Commons Dilemma as it is now known looks at the case where people interest in maximizing their own welfare, destroy the common good on which they all rely.
- In the context of Identity Management the commons is the internet and all of the resource available on it that require some proof from the user before access is granted. It is also the collected contant of the internet what needs proof from the user as to the reliability of that content.
The Commons
Commons do have external boundaries, but typically not internal boundaries. In its earliest uses, "commons" referred to natural resources like pastures and forests, which local inhabitants could use for cattle-grazing, hunting, and other agrarian pursuits. Today, "commons" often defined more broadly than that, especially in general public dis-course. Public parks and beaches are frequently tagged as such, as are air, water, and public libraries. Creative works in the public domain are part of the public commons too, as are language itself, written alpha-bets, many computer languages, the recipe for an Old Fashioned, or even the view of Orion on a clear, dark night.
Among academics, "commons" are often more narrowly defined than in popular understanding. Elinor Ostrom, an influential political scientist who received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2009 for her work on commons, identified eight principles that characterize successful "common-pool resource" institutions. In total, these principles create the blueprint for a communal resource that is significantly more circumscribed than air or the recipe for an Old Fashioned is. In Ostrom's conception, a commons is an intentionally managed resource with a defined community of users. This version of a commons has clearly defined boundaries of access, graduated sanctions for rule violations, and other explicitly articulated and operationalized governance features. In many ways, a commons is governed by the sort of rules wed expect from a homeowners association.
Broader conceptions of common resources leave more room for variance and often place more emphasis on open access than governance. Sometimes a resource is owned by all (or none), such as the recipe for an Old Fashioned or that view of Orion. In other instances, the resource has an owner, or collective ownership, but it still remains broadly accessible. For example, public parks and public libraries might be owned by local governments and funded by local taxpayers. They might charge usage fees of various sorts but they remain accessible to all.
Problems
Aristotle states that “it is a fact of common observation that those who own common property, and share in its management, are far more at variance with one another than those who have property separately.” Private property unambiguously allocates resources, while collective ownership can lead to disputes over what each person deserves."
Solutions
For more background see the wiki pages:
References
- ↑ Garrett Hardin The Tragedy of the Commons Science 162 (5364) 1968
