PDF 3.08 MB

increased. This leads Steins et al (2000) to conclude that “Judgements about
‘success’ and ‘rational behaviour’ are thus socially constructed, not only by the
stakeholders involved, but also by CPR analysts. By focussing on pre-defined
categories, analysts will never be fully able to appreciate how the distinction between
‘success’ and failure’, and indeed these notions themselves, are constructed and
used.”
Section 2.7: Beyond Design Principles - Contextual Factors
In recent years, the rapid process of socio-economic change has led to the following
inter-related changes:
1. Rapid demographic expansion;
2. The destruction of the self-sufficiency of local communities;
3. An erosion of traditional sanctioning forces based upon norms and social ties;
4. The inter-linking of the formerly isolated local communities with the national
economy;
5. An increase in the importance of commercial forces in the functioning of the local
economies; and,
6. The spreading of centralised political authority to local communities.
The result of these changes is that the cost-benefit analysis of institutional
provisioning is increasingly being affected by factors that are external to the
community and lie outside their control. Such factors are called contextual “factors”.
These factors are not only determining the success of the regime at a particular point
of time, but also affecting the dynamics of institutional changes. The increasing
importance of such factors necessitates their inclusion into an analysis of the
creation and functioning of CPR regimes. This, in turn, calls for a modification of the
traditional framework of analysis.
33