Institutions serve as focal points for political decision-making.
They are simultaneously used to realize common goals and manipulated to
serve partisan interests. This course introduces students to a form of
"institutional analysis" developed in recent years by political scientists,
policy analysts, economists, and other social scientists. Fundamental
tensions between collective action and individual rationality lie at the
heart of this body of research. Grades will be based on exams, in-class
exercises, and a short paper assignment asking students to apply the
concepts and analytical tools covered in the assigned readings to empirical
examples of resource management or environmental protection at the domestic
or international level. The tentative list of readings includes Jack
Knight's Institutions and Social Conflict, Elinor Ostrom's Governing the
Commons, Pamala Chasek's Earth Negotiations, and Oran Young's Governance in
World Affairs. This course is required for students in the
Inter-Departmental Major in Political Science and Economics. There are no
formal prerequisites, but students will find this material easier to master
if they have previously completed basic courses in microeconomics, public
policy, or collective action.