Governing the Commons
Governing the Commons by Elinor Ostromby Elinor Ostrom
Shares rank 91 of 152 nonfiction books by recommenders
Readers recommend it as a clear account of how groups cooperate to manage shared resources, including Ostrom's eight rules for governing the commons.
Readers recommend it as a clear account of how groups cooperate to manage shared resources, including Ostrom's eight rules for governing the commons.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Describes fundamentals of cooperative organization
“It describes fundamentals of successful cooperative organization.”
Comment from 17 Feb 2026 in “Polis: Open-source platform to find common ground at scale” Ostrom's eight rules for managing commons
“Ostrom's 8 rules for managing the commons are worth a read.”
Comment from 11 Aug 2026 in “The Tragedy of the Cognitive Commons” Underrated, more important and correct
“hardly anyone knows about Ostrom's work which IMO is vastly more important (and also more correct)”
Comment from 11 Aug 2026 in “The Tragedy of the Cognitive Commons”
Other nonfiction books people recommend
The four most recommended other nonfiction books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Cuckoo's Eggby Clifford Stoll | 40 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Amusing Ourselves to Deathby Neil Postman | 36 | 0 | 100% | 9 | 1 yr3 owners | Approved |
| The Anxious Generationby Jonathan Haidt | 24 | 12 | 67% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Bullshit Jobsby David Graeber | 20 | 12 | 63% | 8 | — | — |
| Governing the Commonsby Elinor OstromThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
All 3 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Ostrom's 8 rules for managing the commons are worth a read.”
“hardly anyone knows about Ostrom's work which IMO is vastly more important (and also more correct)”
“It describes fundamentals of successful cooperative organization.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.