Riding in Cars with Boys: Elinor Ostrom's Adventures with the Police
Journal of Institutional Economics, Volume 9, Issue 4, December 2013
GMU Working Paper in Economics No. 13-01
20 Pages Posted: 5 Jan 2013 Last revised: 18 Oct 2017
Date Written: January 4, 2013
Abstract
More than forty years ago, Elinor Ostrom began her adventures with the police. In order to combat the conventional view that “bigger means better,” Ostrom pioneered a field work-based framework for measuring police services that utilized consumer surveys and thereby created a community-centered model of analysis for public services. In this paper, we contend that although Ostrom’s career demonstrated the importance of employing multiple methods, her most enduring contributions and legacy came from on-the-ground research. Her case studies and field work proved to be necessary for examining complex systems beyond the state-market dichotomy, and these methods of analysis should be defended as critical for inquiry into the variety of institutional arrangements.
Keywords: Elinor Ostrom, polycentricity, police services, field work
JEL Classification: A11, B41, H41
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation