The object of policy research is the understanding of the interaction among the machinery of
the state, political actors, and the public. To facilitate this understanding, a number of …

The language of systems can be highly useful when defined clearly. It can help make sense
of the interconnectedness of key actors, the 'emergence'of outcomes from large numbers of …

Polycentricity is a fundamental concept in commons scholarship that connotes a complex
form of governance with multiple centers of semiautonomous decision making. If the …

The social-ecological system (SES) framework investigated in this special issue enables
researchers from diverse disciplinary backgrounds working on different resource sectors in …

This article provides an overview of the structure and evolution of the Institutional Analysis
and Development (IAD) framework and a short introduction to its use by scholars to analyze …

Why, despite an emphasis on'getting institutions right', do development initiatives so
infrequently deliver as planned? Why do many institutions designed for natural resource …

In public policy processes, collective learning among policy actors is important in shaping
how these processes unfold and the types of policy outcomes that may result. Despite a …

This provocative Element is on the'state of the art'of theories that highlight policymaking
complexity. It explains complexity in a way that is simple enough to understand and use. The …

Legal and institutional structures fundamentally shape opportunities for adaptive
governance of environmental resources at multiple ecological and societal scales …

This paper brings together institutional theories of polycentricity and critical human
geography theory on scalar politics to advance understanding of the form and function of …