Governing Complexity: Analyzing and Applying Polycentricity

There has been a rapid expansion of academic interest and publications on polycentricity. In the contemporary world, nearly all governance situations are polycentric, but people are not necessarily used to thinking this way. Governing Complexity provides an updated explanation of the concept of polycentric governance. The editors provide examples of it in contemporary settings involving complex natural resource systems, as well as a critical evaluation of the utility of the concept. With contributions from leading scholars in the field, this book makes the case that polycentric governance arrangements exist and it is possible for polycentric arrangements to perform well, persist for long periods, and adapt. Whether they actually function well, persist, or adapt depends on multiple factors that are reviewed and discussed, both theoretically and with examples from actual cases.

Andreas Thiel is Professor of International Agricultural Policy and Environmental Governance at the Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences at Universität Kassel, Germany. He is an Affiliated Faculty member of the Ostrom Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis and Senior Fellow at the Centre for Global Cooperation Research at University of Duisburg-Essen. His research addresses the institutional dimension of social-ecological systems with specific focus on governance in the water, agriculture and biodiversity sectors.

William A. Blomquist is Professor of Political Science at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, and is an Affiliated Faculty member of the Ostrom Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis. He is the author of Dividing the Waters (1992), co-author of Embracing Watershed Politics (2008) and Common Waters, Diverging Streams (2004), and co-editor of Integrated River Basin Management through Decentralization (2007).

Dustin E. Garrick is Associate Professor of Environmental Management at the University of Oxford. His research on polycentric governance focuses on water allocation and markets as responses to climate change, urbanization and sustainable development challenges. His book, Water Allocation in Rivers under Pressure (2015), assesses the evolution and performance of water markets and polycentric river basin governance in Australia and the US.