The Practice of Constitutional Development

Vincent Ostrom's Quest to Understand Human Affairs

Filippo Sabetti, Barbara Allen, Mark Sproule-Jones

• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Year: 2008
• eBook ISBN: 9781461634454
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Constitutions
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This edited collection further expands our knowledge about what comprises a successful constitution in both theory and application. Building on the research and analysis of Vincent Ostrom, who as one of America's leading scholars on constitutions has spent a lifetime writing about constitutions in America and overseas.

Each essay shows how particular countries, governments, and organizations devise constitutions to reflect their visions of governance and sets of rules for their leaders. On a higher theoretical level, the contributors emphasize the importance of choosing the rules of the political game in order to determine the nature of the game itself. Extending Ostrom's intellectual quest to solve constitutional dilemmas, the scholars gathered here discuss a wide variety of issues, ranging from the problems of water scarcity and local public economies in Africa to the prospect of a new political order in the European North.

Table of contents

• About the Cover Art by Katherine Meyers:
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• PART I - Introduction
• PART II - Selected Writings of Vincent Ostrom
• PART III - New Directions in the Development of Natural Resources
• PART IV - New Directions in Local and Regional Governance
• Index
• Contributors