Polycentric Governance Systems Research Articles

How do polycentric governance systems adapt? The role of forums explored in Dutch metropolitan areas

How do polycentric governance systems adapt? The role of forums explored in Dutch metropolitan areas

Knowledge is not power: Learning in polycentric governance systems

AbstractThe link between knowledge and decision‐making in polycentric systems is shaped by the process of collective learning, where policy actors participate in multiple policy forums to acquire, translate, and disseminate knowledge. This article argues that the relationship between learning and participation in polycentric systems differs for actors with executive responsibilities versus specialized staff. Using a mix of quantitative and qualitative data, we show that executive staff are less likely to learn because of their incentives, resources, and position in the system. In contrast, specialized staff are more likely to learn as they form epistemic communities focused on specific policy issues. The different learning experiences of executive versus technical staff contributes to the disjunction between knowledge and power that is a feature of all polycentric systems. Bridging this gap requires institutional arrangements and training to enable the development of trust‐based relationships between decision‐makers, scientists, and other types of specialized knowledge communities.

Polycentric governance in practice: the case of Ukraine’s decentralised crisis response during the Russo-Ukrainian war

Public choice scholars have long argued that the decentralisation of governance has substantial benefits, though the specific context is necessary to understand why and how it works well. This article provides an Ostromian analysis of decentralised governance in Ukraine based on a wartime survey of 204 Ukrainian local authorities (LAs), in-depth interviews and focus groups with LA representatives. The article identifies empirical evidence of three mechanisms of polycentricity at play locally in Ukraine: the facilitation of local knowledge; resource mobilisation; and the enablement of experimentation and innovation. One year into the full-scale Russian invasion, empirical insights from Ukraine demonstrate how a polycentric governance system can contribute to resilience in a protracted and extreme crisis. The research findings also highlight the critical role of personal communication and technology in enabling social innovation that supports resilience.

Skin in the Game: The Transformational Potential of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations

Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs)—collectively owned human-machine systems deployed on a blockchain that self-govern through smart contracts and the voluntary contributions of autonomous community members—exhibit the potential to facilitate collective action in managing digital commons. Yet the promise of decentralization and collective action is difficult to sustain. To this end, this paper critically examines the transformational potential of DAOs in the case of decentralized finance. Using a polycentric governance lens, we contribute to the literature on technology-enabled forms of organizing with a model explaining the transformational potential of DAOs to facilitate collective action in digital commons. Our study highlights that (1) DAOs are a new form of organizing enabled by blockchain technology in which individuals are free to pursue their objectives within a general system of rules enforced by smart contracts, (2) collective action for managing digital commons can be sustained through a set of three mechanisms—sustained participation, collective direction, and scaled organizing, and (3) DAOs tend to strike a balance between centralized and fully decentralized or community-based governance by implementing a polycentric governance system involving a combination of human and machine agency that creates skin in the game.

Responsible innovation in CDR: designing sustainable national Greenhouse Gas Removal policies in a fragmented and polycentric governance system

In the assessment of climate policies, the social sciences are sometimes assigned a restricted instrumental role, focused on understanding and mitigating social and political “constraints” seen to impede the fullest achievement of a particular technological imaginary. The work presented in this paper draws on an alternative intellectual tradition, in which the technical, social and political dimensions of the problem are seen as closely intertwined, shaped by values and interests specific to each jurisdiction. The Greenhouse Gas Removal Instruments and Policies Project (GRIP), applied this approach to the design of policies for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) in the United Kingdom. GRIP explored what policy incentives and pathways might improve the societal assessment of different CDR technologies for further development and potential deployment. Here we analyze the views of UK policy actors questioned on different CDR options, and outline policy pathways to incentivize the research and demonstration processes necessary to determine what role CDR techniques should play in climate policy. We conclude by discussing recent policy developments in the UK, and the contours of a research agenda capable of supporting a responsible evaluation of CDR options.

Assessing participatory process‐system linkages in polycentric water governance: Insights from WFD implementation in Germany

AbstractAn important, although insufficiently answered, environmental governance research question concerns how exactly participation improves policy implementation at different scales. Numerous studies have highlighted important variables influencing the effectiveness of participatory processes. However, studies of participation tend to be strongly process‐oriented rather than system‐oriented and often overlook the reality that participatory processes are part of increasingly complex and broader decision‐making systems. By analyzing particular process‐system linkages, this paper contributes new knowledge regarding how participatory processes can influence decision‐making in polycentric governance systems. This study focuses on the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive, which aims for good ecological and chemical status in all European waters, in six German states with varied polycentric decision‐making structures. No direct decision‐making power was found to be associated with any of the participatory processes themselves. Rather, the power remained embedded within the other established institutional structures. Nevertheless, the participatory processes did still intend to influence decision‐making within those established structures through the aggregation and multiplication of information. The findings show that only a few representatives or a small proportion of the total number of decision‐makers are involved in participatory processes. Therefore, those processes may either affect decisions directly due to the binding nature of the decisions taken within participatory processes or alternatively have effects through more complex and nuanced multiplication routes following the conclusion of each participatory process. Moreover, all of the participatory processes examined in this study were reliant to some extent on such multiplication mechanisms to amplify the effects on decisions throughout the overall polycentric governance system.

Polycentric governance systems’ perceived impact on learning in north-central US lake and watershed organizations

Polycentric governance systems’ perceived impact on learning in north-central US lake and watershed organizations

Polycentric governance systems: addressing the power gap centered on climate entrepreneurs in Semnan Province of Iran

ABSTRACT Polycentric governance systems seek to solve environmental challenges through the involvement of diverse actors at different decision-making levels. However, previous studies did not confirm the positive performance of polycentric governance in social interactions with certainty. Therefore, the aim of the study was to identify the capacity and performance of current actors and units to understand their impact on the performance of polycentric governance systems perspective as a whole. For this purpose, this study investigated the theory of polycentric governance systems on a large scale in Semnan province of Iran. The social network analysis (SNA) and its 12 indices were used as a methodology of research, including 352 heterogeneous actors with different capacities, were interviewed and studied. The results showed that the power and leadership of key actors play an effective role in the stability and development of polycentric governance systems. The power sharing between decision-making centers is implemented through the interlevel communication of climate entrepreneurs. The comparison of performances showed that public management could not meet the leadership criteria as well as private actors. The final results showed that the total performance of the polycentric governance system of environment was positive and influenced by the performance of pioneer NGOs and climate entrepreneurs.

The Role of Intermediate Collaborative Forums in Polycentric Environmental Governance

Abstract In complex, polycentric environmental governance systems, actors may choose to collaborate with one another to reduce their collective vulnerability and enhance system function. However, collaboration can be costly, and little evidence exists for how particular collaborative forums impact the broader governance system in which they are embedded. To address this gap, we investigate the role of intermediate collaborative forums, which support collaboration among a subset of system actors, in polycentric governance systems. Empirically, we analyze the structural and functional role of an intermediate collaborative forum called the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association (AMWUA) within the municipal surface water governance network for the Phoenix Metropolitan Area (PMA) in Arizona, United States. To do this, we draw from 21 interviews with water professionals in the PMA, which we analyze through a combination of network analysis and qualitative coding. We find that AMWUA facilitates strong bonding capacities among members, allowing for streamlined bridging to the rest of the network that enhances information processing and advocacy of member needs. Our findings advance theory on the role of collaboration in polycentric systems and inform the design of collaborative institutions to improve environmental governance.

Economic Governance of Cannabis: The Implications of Polycentric Governance in Mendocino County

The 2016 passage of California’s Proposition 64, legalizing recreational (adult-use) cannabis, was justified ex ante in part for its potential to encourage restorative justice and positive local and state economic outcomes. But are the local institutions administering Proposition 64 achieving these aims? We address this question via a two-year case study of Mendocino County’s polycentric cannabis governance system using a mixed methods approach including archival analysis, cannabis industry and governance system interviews, and participant observation. Evidence from our case study suggests that Mendocino’s ability to achieve these goals is hampered by three quasi-market failures: interjurisdictional conflict, coproduction deficits, and devolution without adequate fiscal decentralization. A major driver in these quasi-market failures is the substantial regulatory and enforcement responsibility this governance system places on local government. We conclude by discussing some institutional structures that may address these failures.

Quantifying and improving flood resilience of urban drainage systems based on socio-ecological criteria

In this paper, a new framework is developed for evaluating the resilience of urban drainage systems (UDSs) under floods by proposing and quantifying some technical and socio-ecological (SE) criteria. The proposed criteria are used to quantify the seven principles of building resilience in socio-ecological systems. The criteria mainly focus on preserving diversity and multiplicity in a UDS, managing variables that gradually change over time (slow variables), improving structural and functional connectivity, maintaining system adaptability, encouraging learning, broadening participation, and promoting polycentric governance systems. For evaluating the efficiency of the proposed framework, it is applied to a real-world case study of improving resilience of the UDS in the eastern part of Tehran metropolitan area. Three scenarios for flood management are proposed based on the Low Impact Development (LID) practices which are simulated using the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM). The Entropy method is used to consider the uncertainty in the relative importance of different criteria in estimating the flood resilience. The estimated values for the proposed criteria regarding the current drainage system in the study area show its undesirable condition in many sub-catchments. The results also show that using around 2.3 km2 of LID practices in this urban watershed can significantly improve the resilience in many sub-catchments (nearly, 30%) and reduce the total volume of the overflow (about 50%). The results also show that using the flood management scenarios, improving connectivity is the most influential factor that enhances the general resilience of the system.

Pathways towards improved water governance: The role of polycentric governance systems and vertical and horizontal coordination

Persistent challenges in dealing with water management problems arise from complex interdependencies of diverse water uses. Water-related crises, such as prolonged droughts or extreme floods, may have severe impacts across scales and in different sectors. At the same time, numerous, largely independent decisions in different sectors affecting water resources and water-dependent ecosystems introduce further uncertainties. Conceptual consideration and empirical evidence suggest that polycentric governance systems have a high capacity to deal with such challenges. Polycentric governance systems combine decentralization of authority and decision-making with some kind of coordination of the different (semi-)autonomous governance units. However, the nature of and pathways towards polycentric governance are still quite poorly understood. This paper analyses requirements (1) for governance systems to become polycentric and (2) for such systems to effectively tackle water management challenges. The analyses are based on a data set of 26 cases from developed and less developed countries. Results from Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) confirm the hypothesis that polycentric governance systems are characterized by high performance in supporting effective coordination. Fragmented as well as centralized, not coordinated (rent-seeking) regimes show poor performance. The QCA analyses highlight further the importance of high institutional capacity for the effectiveness of formal coordination instruments. Results show as well a strong interdependence between vertical coordination and horizontal coordination. The results from QCA analyses are substantiated with findings from in-depth studies of selected cases from the larger data set.

The Continuing Case for a Polycentric Approach for Coping with Climate Change

Elinor Ostrom argued that effectively coping with manmade climate change requires a polycentric approach. Although we agree with Ostrom’s assessment, her arguments regarding the advantages of polycentricity could be taken further. In this paper, we supplement Ostrom’s work by fleshing out the reasons of how and why a polycentric approach is more conducive to coping with climate change than national governments that attempt to centrally direct climate change policies. We argue that there are at least six advantages that polycentric systems have for coping with climate change: competition among decision makers, cooperation among decision makers, perceptions of legitimacy that lead to coproduction, mutual learning through experimentation, institutional resilience/robustness, and emergent outcomes that are socially desirable but not centrally planned. The combination of these six factors gives polycentric governance systems distinct advantages over more top-down ones, especially in terms of epistemics and incentive compatibility. Scholars and policymakers who are concerned about the implications of climate change should appreciate the many diverse and nuanced advantages of a polycentric approach for coping with climate change.

The Perils of Regulating COVID–19: Insights from Kirznerian Entrepreneurship and Ostromian Polycentricity

During the COVID-19 pandemic, governments at every level in the United States made various policies to reduce the spread of the disease and to mitigate pandemic-related economic impacts. Such policies included stay-at-home orders that shuttered “non-essential” businesses and economic stimulus programs that provided financial assistance. Using Israel Kirzner’s insights from “The Perils of Regulation,” we argue that local, state, and federal COVID-19 policies have had and will continue to have long-run spillover effects and other negative unintended consequences. Pandemic policies have stifled entrepreneurial discovery and created opportunities for superfluous discovery, thus directing entrepreneurial efforts in directions that would not have existed otherwise. The normative implications of this analysis are that policymakers should better account for the wide variety of seen and unseen costs of policies that are likely to have many negative unintended consequences, regardless of the intentions behind such policies. One of the most effective ways to limit the perils of regulation is polycentric governance systems. With multiple, overlapping decision-making centers, polycentric systems allow for policymakers to experiment with different policy approaches and learn from other jurisdictions. Polycentric systems also limit the spillover effects of negative unintended consequences onto other jurisdictions.

Embedding Community-Based Circular Economy Initiatives in a Polycentric Waste Governance System: A Case Study

This research explores the approach of embedding community-based initiatives in practicing circular economy based on a case study of waste bank movement in Salatiga, Central Java, and explains how the waste banks interact with multi sectors and levels. Data is gathered from documentary studies, in-depth interviews, and observations; and analyzed with a polycentric governance approach, which sheds light on cross-organizational collaborative arrangements. The study results show that the community-based circular economy initiatives through waste banks in Salatiga result from either a top-down approach that the municipal government instructs or a bottom-up approach that Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and communities initiate. Thus it is significant to note that CSOs play essential roles in waste management, and it completes the model proposed by the previous study. The study findings also show that embedding community-based waste management through waste banks in Salatiga can enhance broader circular economy practices, strengthen the linkages across sectors and levels, and balance the authorities in a polycentric waste governance system. Therefore, waste banks must be recognized as reliable institutions governing waste, especially in urban areas.

Theorizing Multilevel Closure Structures Guiding Forum Participation

Abstract Understanding how stakeholders choose to participate in different policy forums is central to research on complex, polycentric governance systems. In this article, we draw upon the Ecology of Games Theory (EGT) to develop theoretical expectations about how four incentive structures may guide how actors navigate the world of policy forums. We test these expectations using unique data on a three-mode network of actors, forums, and issues related to climate change adaption in the state of Ohio, in the US Midwest. Results of an exponential random graph model suggest that multilevel closure structures, which are a function of transaction costs and direct benefits, guide actors’ forum participation in ways that can either reinforce sub-optimal, ineffective governance arrangements, or conversely, encourage opportunities for innovation, increase diversity in representation, and facilitate policy learning. From a methodological standpoint, our research highlights the benefits of examining complex governance systems through the more precise approach allowed by three-mode network analysis, which has not been frequently used in research on polycentric governance systems up to this point.

Rethinking polycentricity: on the North–South imbalances in transnational climate change governance

The transnational climate change governance (TCCG) landscape, led by sub- and non-state actors including businesses, municipalities, and NGOs, holds legitimate potential for tackling persisting climate injustices, in part by virtue of its polycentric character. However, while in theory polycentric governance systems could serve to correct structural power imbalances, the geography of TCCG remains remarkably uneven. This article explores this puzzle in the context of polycentric governance theory and the allegedly paradoxical relationship between polycentricity and equity. Two interrelated empirical and analytical research questions are addressed: (1) How is TCCG organized geographically along the global North–South divide? And, based on the geography of TCCG, (2) Does its polycentric character contribute toward more equitable governance across the global North and South? Following a large-N analysis of a novel dataset containing 174 governance arrangements and 1196 stakeholders with decision-making powers, I argue that the geography of TCCG is remarkably resistant to change, gravitating unmistakably toward the global North and its existing diplomatic hotspots. I argue that the TCCG system currently in place resembles a system of concentrated polycentricity—a product of an overarching system of rules shared with the international regime that could, in turn, potentially explain the persisting North–South inequities in a still seemingly increasingly polycentric climate.

Actors in forums: work input and different types of benefits

AbstractForums provide venues where different actors from the public administration sector, the interest group sector, or the research sector jointly discuss an issue of common interest. This article analyses which types of benefits are related to actors’ investing working time to forums. Actors’ dedication and work are basic predicates for forums to be able to produce outputs. The analysis of members of eight forums dealing with habitat and natural hazard governance in Switzerland suggests that actors participating in forums attribute more importance to exchange benefits, corresponding to opportunities of interaction with other actors – than to policy benefits – corresponding to opportunities for actors to influence policy or practice. However, more working time is invested by actors that lend importance to individual benefits – as opposed to collective benefits. These findings are important for understanding why actors provide work for forums in collaborative and polycentric governance systems.

Food Security Challenges and Options in the Caribbean: Insights from a Scoping Review

The Caribbean region remains susceptible to an increasing frequency of natural disasters, rising international debt, out-migration, rapid urbanization, and high imports to meet basic needs. Food and nutrition insecurity persists in these small island states, with around 67.5% of the population living in moderate or severe food insecurity. Policy adjustments required to address the targets subsumed by the second sustainable development goal (SDG2 or Zero Hunger) are still at an infant stage. This research offers rigorous and up-to-date analyzes of the current status of Caribbean food policies and practices through a scoping review and expert interviews to answer the question, “What constraints and enablers impact the ability of small island states to achieve the Zero Hunger goal?”. A scoping review is performed following the relevant population, concept, and context (PCC) methodology by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI). Five major challenges and barriers are identified through the scoping review: (i) island geography, (ii) governance deficiencies, and (iii) institutional constraints, compounded by (iv) collaboration barriers, and (v) externally imposed impediments (including environmental and financial shocks). To address these challenges, synergistic linkages and restrictive connections have been recognized for SDG2 localization. It was concluded that three dimensions of food security (utilization, agency, and sustainability) are mainly overlooked, necessitating special attention and action. By identifying bridging institutions and engaging various actors in supporting shared rulemaking, power, conflict management, and knowledge-sharing among local, national, and regional policy actors, a polycentric governance system is recommended as a suitable mechanism to help islands move towards food security.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s44177-021-00008-8.

Biophysical modelling of larval dispersal and population connectivity of a stalked barnacle: implications for fishery governance

Numerical biophysical models are a standard methodology used to provide estimates of larval dispersal and population connectivity for marine species with a bi-phasic life cycle. However, confidence on biophysical models, tested by confronting model estimates with empirical evidence, is seldomly assessed. We compared time-series estimates of larval supply of the stalked barnaclePollicipes pollicipesto rocky shores in 3 regions around the Iberian Peninsula (Asturias, Galicia, SW Portugal) with recruitment observations made at monthly intervals for 2 yr. Supply estimates were made with the Regional Ocean Modelling system using several larval behaviour scenarios, while the number of recruits on the stalks of adult barnacles was used as a measure of recruitment intensity. Cross-correlation analysis showed that passive, surface-dwelling and ontogenetically migrating larval scenarios generally produced significant positive correlations at time lags of 0 to +2 mo at the regional level but not at sub-regional or site levels. None of the scenarios produced a substantially better fit than the others, and all 3 produced estimates of average realized dispersal (-73 to +63 km in the S/W and N/E directions) and larval retention (2.0 to 2.4%) that were numerically very similar. These estimates indicate high levels of connectivity, either during larval life or via steppingstone processes, within and between the 3 regions. Based on these estimates, we advocate that the management of theP. pollicipesfishery requires an interactive, polycentric governance system at transregional, regional and local scales, which will give the resource a higher possibility of persistence by diversifying the fishery’s management portfolio.