Linking Management of Private Resources to Protection of a Common-Pool Resource: An Institutional Analysis of the Washington State Forests and Fish Plan

Abstract

From p. 3: "Institutional analysis is potentially useful in answering several questions pertaining to this unique case. Using the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework (IAD) developed by scholars at the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis under the leadership of Elinor and Vincent Ostrom, (particularly focusing on its examination of multiple levels of analysis and exogenous factors affecting the institutional environment) I hope to answer the question of why the Forests and Fish Plan, a 'voluntary' form of self-regulation, was established and what principles were most influential in forming its structure. I will also provide a preliminary evaluation of the implications of the institution and the potential for actor compliance, which will include a discussion on the importance of third party monitors and how they are meant to ensure compliance with the rules-in-use. Furthermore, I will examine existing literature pertaining to voluntary self regulation in environmental policy, and I will show that the institutional change towards voluntary agreements in environmental policy identified by John Maxwell and Thomas Lyon is similarly applicable to issues of natural resource management."