Networks of Adjacent Action Situations in Polycentric Governance

Within the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework, the concept of an action situation generalizes a game to allow for endogenous changes in its rules. This article re-visits this core concept to explore its potential for serving as the foundation for a systematic approach to the construction of more elaborate models of complex policy networks in which overlapping sets of actors have the ability to influence the rules under which their strategic interactions take place. Networks of adjacent action situations can be built on the basis of the seven distinct types of rules that define an action situation or by representing generic governance tasks identified in related research on local public economies. The potential of this extension of the IAD framework is demonstrated with simplified network representations of three diverse policy areas (Maine lobster fisheries, international development assistance, and the contribution of faith-based organizations to U.S. welfare policy).

[1]  R. Parks,et al.  The Study of Local Public Economies: Multi‐organizational, Multi‐level Institutional Analysis and Development , 2011 .

[2]  Implementation , 2001 .

[3]  N. Ammerman.  Pillars of faith : American congregations and their partners , 2007 .

[4]  J. Wood,et al.  When the Bottom Line Is Faithfulness: Management of Christian Service Organizations , 1994 .

[5]  E. Ostrom.  Institutional Rational Choice , 2019, Theories of the Policy Process.

[6]  H. Ebaugh,et al.  Funding Good Works: Funding Sources of Faith-Based Social Service Coalitions , 2005 .

[7]  C. Taliaferro.  Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion , 2001 .

[8]  L. Iannaccone,et al.  Introduction to the Economics of Religion , 1998 .

[9]  William H. Dutton,et al.  The Ecology of Games Shaping Telecommunications Policy , 1992 .

[10]  E. Ostrom.  A General Framework for Analyzing Sustainability of Social-Ecological Systems , 2009, Science.

[11]  E. Ostrom.  Beyond Markets and States: Polycentric Governance of Complex Economic Systems , 2010, American Economic Review.

[12]  V. Ostrom,et al.  The Organization of Government in Metropolitan Areas: A Theoretical Inquiry , 1961, American Political Science Review.

[13]  R. Sager.  Faith, Politics, and Power: The Politics of Faith-Based Initiatives , 2010 .

[14]  Elinor Ostrom,et al.  Defining and Measuring Structural Variations in Interorganizational Arrangements , 1974 .

[15]  Amy R. Poteete,et al.  Working Together: Collective Action, the Commons, and Multiple Methods in Practice , 2010 .

[16]  Michael D. McGinnis,et al.  Polycentric games and institutions : readings from the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis , 2000 .

[17]  Richard G. Townsend.  Is the Local Community an Ecology of Games? , 1980 .

[18]  E. Ostrom.  A Behavioral Approach to the Rational Choice Theory of Collective Action: Presidential Address, American Political Science Association, 1997 , 1998, American Political Science Review.

[19]  L. Iannaccone,et al.  Why Strict Churches Are Strong', and at Several Department Seminars. I Thank Many Colleagues for Their Comments and Suggestions, Particularly , 2022 .

[20]  S. Monsma.  When Sacred and Secular Mix: Religious Nonprofit Organizations and Public Money , 1996 .

[21]  Michael D. McGinnis,et al.  Polycentric governance and development : readings from the workshop in political theory and policy analysis , 1999 .

[22]  S. Smith,et al.  The Varieties of Faith-Related Agencies , 2001 .

[23]  James M. Acheson,et al.  Capturing the Commons: Devising Institutions to Manage the Maine Lobster Industry , 2004 .

[24]  Steven Stritt.  Estimating the Value of the Social Services Provided by Faith-Based Organizations in the United States , 2008 .

[25]  Camille Roth,et al.  Connections: An Introduction to the Economics of Networks by Sanjeev Goyal , 2010, J. Artif. Soc. Soc. Simul..

[26]  Ronald J. Oakerson,et al.  분권화 시대의 대도시 거버넌스 = Governing local public economies : creating the civic metropolis , 1999 .

[27]  W. Mitchell.  Virginia, Rochester, and Bloomington: Twenty-five years of public choice and political science , 1988 .

[28]  Mark Chaves.  Congregations in America , 2004 .

[29]  Elinor Ostrom,et al.  The Samaritan's Dilemma , 2005 .

[30]  E. Ostrom.  Crossing the great divide: Coproduction, synergy, and development , 1996 .

[31]  Michael D. McGinnis,et al.  Richardson, Rationality, and Restrictive Models of Arms Races , 1991 .

[32]  R. Stark,et al.  The Churching of America, 1776-2005: Winners and Losers in Our Religious Economy , 1993 .

[33]  Robert J. Wuthnow,et al.  Religion and the nonprofit sector , 2006 .

[34]  E. Ostrom.  An agenda for the study of institutions , 1986 .

[35]  E. Ostrom.  Microconstitutional Change in Multiconstitutional Political Systems , 1989 .

[36]  V. Ostrom,et al.  The Meaning of Democracy and the Vulnerabilities of Democracies: A Response to Tocqueville's Challenge , 1991 .

[37]  M. D. McGinnis,et al.  An Introduction to IAD and the Language of the Ostrom Workshop: A Simple Guide to a Complex Framework for the Analysis of Institutions and Their Development , 2011 .

[38]  H. Ebaugh,et al.  Where's the Religion? Distinguishing Faith‐Based from Secular Social Service Agencies , 2003 .

[39]  S. Kennedy.  Charitable Choice at Work: Evaluating Faith-Based Job Programs in the States , 2006 .

[40]  Michael D. McGinnis,et al.  Polycentricity and local public economies : readings from the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis , 1999 .

[41]  E. Ostrom.  Background on the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework , 2011 .

[42]  J. Kuo.  Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction , 2006 .

[43]  John T. Scholz,et al.  Self‐Organizing Policy Networks: Risk, Partner Selection, and Cooperation in Estuaries , 2010 .

[44]  Saba Siddiki,et al.  Dissecting Policy Designs: An Application of the Institutional Grammar Tool , 2010 .

[45]  E. Ostrom,et al.  Rules, Games, and Common-Pool Resources , 1994 .

[46]  A. Gill.  Religion and Comparative Politics , 2003 .

[47]  Heidi Rolland Unruh,et al.  Saving Souls, Serving Society , 2005 .

[48]  Peter J. Boettke,et al.  Challenging Institutional Analysis and Development: The Bloomington School , 2009 .

[49]  M. W. Foley.  Saving America?: Faith-Based Services and the Future of Civil Society , 2005 .

[50]  Elinor Ostrom,et al.  The Samaritan's Dilemma: The Political Economy of Development Aid , 2005 .

[51]  Heidi Rolland Unruh,et al.  Saving Souls, Serving Society: Understanding the Faith Factor in Church-Based Social Ministry , 2005 .

[52]  Benjamin Cornwell,et al.  Revisiting Norton Long's Ecology of Games: A Network Approach , 2003 .

[53]  E. Ostrom.  A diagnostic approach for going beyond panaceas , 2007, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[54]  R. Allahyari.  Charitable Choice at Work: Evaluating Faith-Based Job Programs in the States , 2007 .

[55]  Brenda K. Bushouse.  Governance Structures: Using IAD to Understand Variation in Service Delivery for Club Goods with Information Asymmetry , 2011 .

[56]  R. Gardner,et al.  Strategies, Conflict, and the Emergence of Territoriality: The Case of the Maine Lobster Industry , 2004 .

[57]  E. Ostrom,et al.  A Grammar of Institutions , 1995, American Political Science Review.

[58]  M. Lubell,et al.  Collaborative Institutions in an Ecology of Games , 2010 .

[59]  S. Monsma.  Putting Faith in Partnerships: Welfare-to-Work in Four Cities , 2009 .

[60]  R. Gardner,et al.  Spatial Strategies and Territoriality in the Maine Lobster Industry , 2005 .

[61]  Twenty-five years of public choice and political science , 1988 .

[62]  T. Vitale,et al.  Polycentricity and Local Public Economies: Readings from the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis , 2001 .

[63]  Peter deLeon,et al.  The Design and Promise of the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework , 2011 .

[64]  G. Brady.  Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action , 1993 .

[65]  E. Ostrom.  A Long Polycentric Journey , 2010 .

[66]  R. Putnam.  Diplomacy and domestic politics: the logic of two-level games , 1988, International Organization.

[67]  M. D. McGinnis,et al.  Legal Pluralism, Polycentricity, and Faith-Based Organizations in Global Governance , 2006 .