Browsing by Author "Oakerson, Ronald J."

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Analyzing the Commons: A Framework
(1990) Oakerson, Ronald J.
"The paper sets forth an institutional framework for analyzing the commons, one used by the National Academy of Science's Panel on Common Property Resource Management to collect case studies from around the world. The framework distinguishes four types of attributes: (1) the physical features of a resource or facility and the technology used to appropriate its yield; (2) decision-making arrangements (organization and rules) that govern relationships among users and others; (3) mutual choice of strategies and patterns of interaction among decision makers; and (4) outcomes or consequences. Both the physical and technological attributes of the commons and decision-making arrangements affect patterns of interaction, which combine with physical and technological attributes to produce outcomes. Outcomes disclose the effect of a difficulty, but the source of difficulty lies in a lack of congruence between the technical and physical nature of a commons and the decision-making arrangements used to govern its use. The lack of good institutional 'fit' potentially creates a perverse structure of incentives leading individuals into counterproductive patterns of interaction that generates undesirable outcomes. Use of the framework permits systematic comparison of cases, including both institutional successes and failures, and facilitates both knowledge-building and diagnostic analysis problems."
The Anatomy of Public Problems: Building a Methodology of Policy Analysis
(1980) Oakerson, Ronald J.
From p. 1: Public policy analysis is rich in methods and poor in methodology. As the number and sophistication of methods continue to increase, the failure to build an integral mode of analysis becomes the more apparent. A wealth of technique does not yield a systematic way of proceeding with the analysis of a problem--a theory of how to proceed and why. the missing ingredient is methodological; a logic-of doing policy analysis..." From pp. 3-5: Ostrom challenged the preoccupation of scholarship in American public administration with (1) descriptive work focused upon singular 'organizations' based on hierarchical principles and (2) prescriptive work advocating the perfection of hierarchy as a universal approach to solving public problems. Drawing upon both modern political economists and classic political theorists, he went on to sketch an alternative paradigm of publica administration, taking account of the limits and possibilities of various organizational arrangements. Rather than dichotomizing policy and administration, as in the orthodox view, Ostrom treats various forms of organization as alternative instruments of public policy. In this context the essential problem of organization theory, he writes (1974:55) is to: 1)anticipate the consequences which follow when 2) self-interested individuals choose maximizing strategies within 3)particular organization arrangements when applied to 4) particular structures of events. These are the basic elements and relationships involved in the use of organization as an instrument of policy. Ostrom's principal concerns in this piece of work are to demonstrate both the potential variety of organization arrangements and the necessary conditions of general democratic organization to realize the full advantage of that potential variety. This leads to a reconsideration of the principles of constitutionalism and federalism, as developed both by Madison and Hamilton and by Tocqueville, viewed now as a theory of 'democratic administration,' in contrast to the tenets of 'bureaucratic administration' which have come to dominate American administrative thought in this century..." Methodologically, applied policy analysis is a problem of selecting, collecting, sorting, sifting, and otherwise organizing bits and pieces of information in order to reconstruct the logic of a situation. Public problems, like all genuine problems, are surrounded by confusion. To develop an understanding of a problem--to make sense out of it--requires that one deal with a situation on its own terms. Thus information, as the empirical component of analysis, is essential. Yet information is more than data. As Wildavsky (1974:231) has made the distinction, information is 'data collected according to a theory. . .' The emprical component depends upon a theoretical component. 'Analysis' denotes the use of theory to interpret data in order to produce information. The basic tool, therefore, in a methodology of policy analysis is a model which facilitates this information- building process. Ostrom identified the four basic elements of such a model: (1) the structure of events, (2) decision making (or organization) arrangements, (3) individual choice of strategies, and (4) outcomes or consequences."
Consumers as Coproducers of Public Services: Some Economic and Institutional Considerations
(1980) Parks, Roger B.; Baker, Paula C.; Kiser, Larry L.; Oakerson, Ronald J.; Ostrom, Elinor; Ostrom, Vincent; Whitaker, Gordon P.; Wilson, Rick K.
From p. 1-2: "In recent years, attention to the productive activities of consumers has increased. This attention is most common for service production (Fuchs, 1968; and Gam, et al., 1976). Garn and his colleagues argue that when services are produced, 'the person being served (the client or consumer) is inevitably part of the production process, if there is to be any production whatsoever. Therefore, the resources, motivations, and skills brought to bear by the client or consumer are much more intimately connected with the level of achieved output than in the case of goods production. The output is always a jointly produced output (1976:14-15).' "The role of consumers in producing public services has received particular attention. Partly in response to fiscal pressures and partly due to evidence regarding the inefficacy of their own unaided efforts, some public producers are increasing consumer involvement in service production (e.g., community anticrime efforts such as Neighborhood Watch or solid waste collection agencies' replacement of backyard with curbside trash pickup). In other service areas, consumers are demanding an increased role (e.g., parents and students working with groups like PUSH FOR EXCELLENCE to improve educational services or the Wellness movement among health service consumers). Most analysts of public service delivery, however, have focused on the efforts of organized bureaus and firms, ignoring consumer inputs or assigning them only an insignificant, supplementary role. This focus by analysts is generally shared by public administrators and other actors. However, the productive role of consumers as coproducers of the services they receive has been a continuing interest for us. (See, for instance, Kiser and Percy, 1980; Ostrom and Ostrom, 1978; Percy, 1978; and Whitaker, 1980.)"
The Erosion of Public Highways: A Policy Analysis of the Eastern Kentucky Coal-Haul Road Problem
(1978) Oakerson, Ronald J.
"[This dissertation] extends work initially undertaken for a Master's essay on the subject of unlawful coal hauling on the highways of Eastern Kentucky. The analysis builds upon the theory of public goods and considers the impacts of common property relationships on public goods in order to pose the general problem of joint and alternative uses. The object of the research is to explore the limiting factors in present institutional arrangements and the possibilities of different institutions. The methodology includes the use of personal interviews to reconstruct the strategies and claims of different participants and the conduct of legal research to determine the relative availability of different remedies."
The Governance Effects of Metropolitan Reform: A Theoretical Inquiry
(2002) Oakerson, Ronald J.
"What impressed Tocqueville was not only the extent of citizen participation but also its focus on the common good, what traditional republicans called res publica--the set of all things shared in common by a community. Tocqueville cited schools, churches, and roads--but the set is much larger, and it has grown larger over the years. It includes not only tangibles but also intangibles, such as the peace of the community, the control of crime, and community prosperity. It has both local and national dimensions. Caring for res publica in its local dimensions is no trivial undertaking--not even in 2002. It is the focus of a great deal of human effort precisely because it contributes so much to human well-being and its neglect is so destructive of community life. Res publica can be viewed as the local commons writ large. A voluminous literature now suggests just how problematic governing the local commons can be, although its challenges can be effectively addressed by appropriately constituted local communities."
Individuals, Republics, and the Human Condition
(2019) Oakerson, Ronald J.
"In this paper I explore the implications of Vincent Ostrom’s concept of a republic for the model used to explain individual behavior in institutional analysis. Vincent viewed the core of the republic (res publica) as an 'open public realm' that allows individual citizens to participate meaningfully in the process of governance (1991). Moreover, his account of individual choice draws on Tocqueville’s account of 'self-interest rightly understood' in Democracy in America (Volume II, Second Book Chapter VIII 945/1835). The public realm in the U.S. is created and sustained by constitutional liberties accorded to individuals, including the liberties of speech, press, and assembly, as articulated in the First Amendment. The purpose of these liberties is primarily public rather than private. While contemporary liberalism has stressed the importance of constitutional liberties as the bulwark of privacy values, the traditional republican standpoint stresses the importance of the use of liberty in the public realm. My plan in this essay is to show how the public use of liberty in a republic necessarily depends on something very much like Tocqueville’s account of self-interest."
Institutional Dynamics: The Evolution and Dissolution of Common Property Resource Management
(1986) Thomson, James T.; Feeny, David; Oakerson, Ronald J.
"Institutional arrangements for the management of common-pool resources are created and evolve in particular settings. A full understanding of the evolution and survival of such arrangements thus requires dynamic analysis of case studies. The framework presented in Oakerson (1986) may be applied recursively to examine dynamic sequences of change. Thus responses to exogenous shocks in one period become part of the existing set of institutional arrangements in the next, affecting the subsequent path of evolution in institutional arrangements. The dynamic sequences of change in the management of forest resources in Niger (1884-1984) and land resources in Thailand (1850-1980) are the theme of the paper. By applying the model in Oakerson (1986) iteratively, changes in both individual strategies and decision-making arrangements may be made endogenous. The approach is applied at both the local and supra-local levels."
The Meaning and Purpose of Local Government: A Tocquevillist Perspective
(1985) Oakerson, Ronald J.
"To rethink local self-government in the United States requires, first, an inquiry into basic meaning and purpose. What is local government and what do we want of it? The meaning of local government is at least ambiguous when we consider that a municipality the size of the City of New York is generally thought to be a 'local' government. When is 'local government' no longer local? What are its defining characteristics? The way we choose to define local government is shaped by a sense of purpose. What values do we expect it to serve? To what extent can these values be jointly secured? Alternatively, to what extent are trade-offs required? When we determine the meaning of local government and the values to be served by it, then and only then are we in a position to explore its successes and failures. Meaning and purpose become especially important when we turn to issues of 'strengthening' local government?issues with which ACIR has been much concerned over its history. Numerous recommendations have been advanced by the Commission with this objective. What does it mean for local government to be 'strong' or 'weak?' These questions can only be answered in terms of some basic conception of the meaning and purpose of local governmental institutions."
A Model for the Analysis of Common Property Problems
(1984) Oakerson, Ronald J.
"The purpose of this paper is to present a model that can be used to analyze common property problems whatever the specific resource or facility. Such a model must be specific enough to offer guidance in the field, yet general enought to permit application to widely variable situations. The trick is to develop concepts which identify key attributes shared broadly by common property problems and which can be treated as vaiables that take on different values from one circumstance to another..."
The Neighborhood as Commons: Reframing the Problem of Neighborhood Decline
(2015) Oakerson, Ronald J.; Clifton, Jeremy D. W.
"Neighborhood decline in the U.S. is typically viewed as inexorable—a product of forces beyond the control of cities. Yet if urban neighborhoods have the characteristics of a commons, homeowners may adopt strategic behaviors that lead to a cycle of disinvestment in the housing stock, followed by abandonment: a tragedy of the commons. Low-income neighborhoods are especially vulnerable to this dynamic. If decline is a tragedy of the commons, however, commons research suggests that it is potentially avertable by neighborhood collective action; following principles of commons governance, neighborhood organizations and municipalities can facilitate collective action. We begin our inquiry by reviewing research on neighborhood decline as widely viewed through the lens of neighborhood 'succession.' In this model neighborhoods pass from upper to lower income groups while housing maintenance costs increase. Interestingly, the research casts doubt on the succession model. We argue that framing the neighborhood as a commons offers an alternative explanation based on the strategic nature of housing upkeep in an urban setting. Neighborhoods are exposed to highly subtractive uses that discourage maintenance. After delineating the commons-like attributes of neighborhoods, we use design principles drawn from research on common- pool resources to frame an analysis of an illustrative case on the West Side of Buffalo, NY: a single block in an advanced stage of decline collectively engineered a turnaround by overcoming holdout problems. Applying commons theory, we can explain both decline and turnaround in terms of collective action primarily at the block level.Based on our analysis, we discuss three ways to facilitate collective action: - Fostering a joint sense of responsibility for the neighborhood among its residents, e.g., through block club activity; - Making strategic 'counter-investments,' e.g., one or two prominent improvements on a run-down block, to leverage further investment among neighbors; - Securing neighborhood access to legitimate means of coercion for the enforcement of housing rules, obtained in Buffalo through a separate housing court and its innovative use of neighborhood liaisons to monitor property-owner compliance and neighborhood effects. We conclude that the commons offers a useful frame for the analysis of neighborhood decline and turnaround: neighborhood decline need not be inexorable. Because neighborhood effects are multi-level, the urban commons requires multi-scale collective action. The primary commons unit is a single block-face, i.e., opposite sidesof the same street between intersections. At this scale neighbors directly affect one another’s strategic choices regarding housing upkeep. Adjacent blocks similarly affect one another—just as deteriorated housing affects others on the same block, deteriorated blocks affect neighboring blocks. The wider neighborhood interest in specific blocks means that larger neighborhood districts can be important sources of social capital for block clubs. On a still wider scale, municipalities can facilitate collective action at both block and district levels if they recognize the legitimacy of neighborhood collective action and provide low-cost access to coercion to constrain potential holdouts."
Public Roads and Private Interests: An Inquiry into the Erosion of Public Goods
(1973) Oakerson, Ronald J.
"The purpose of this essay is to set up a problem and pose a question. The problem will be characterized as the erosion of public goods, and the question will be directed at specifying (a) the conditions of institutional failure which lead to the erosion of public goods and (b) possible institutional remedies. The paper will focus empirically upon the decision making dynamics of a situation, still unresolved, surrounding the provision of public roads in the Cumberland Mountain coal region of Eastern Kentucky. The analysis will build upon a foundation initially advanced by James Buchanan, in which he attributes a number of public deficiencies to legal and political weaknesses, leading up to the erosion (i.e., inefficient utilization) of public supplies, rather than to a fiscal weakness, in the sense of insufficient expenditure on public supplies. The plan of the essay is to shape this formal analysis to the Kentucky case, in order to clarify and extend the lessons of each."
Reciprocity; A Case of the Neglected Intervening Variable
(1980) Oakerson, Ronald J.
"The purpose of this paper is to offer a new conception of political development from that implies by nation- building, drawing on the following ideas: 1) reciprocity, 2) primary local units of collective action, and 3) constitutional choice. A discussion of development processes in these terms then follows."."