The Tragedy of the Commons Revisited: Politics vs. Private Property

Abstract

"To illustrate the management challenges faced by those who wish to avoid the tragedy of the commons, we extend Hardin's village example by considering the two different forms of social arrangements he suggested as possible solutions to the problem: Political management vs. private property. In our extension, political management requires that the village establish a management body — the Pasture Protection Agency (PPA) and it's head the PPA Administrator. The PPA, of course, is directly analogous to our own environmental protection and resource management agencies. It is intended to show the difficulties and shortcomings of political management."