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Riding in cars with boys: Elinor Ostrom's adventures with the police

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2013

PETER BOETTKE ,
LIYA PALAGASHVILI  and
JAYME LEMKE
PETER BOETTKE*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA
LIYA PALAGASHVILI*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA
JAYME LEMKE*
Affiliation:
Political Theory Project, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
*
*Email: pboettke@gmu.edu
***Email: lpalagas@masonlive.gmu.edu
**Email: jaymelemke@gmail.com
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Abstract:

More than 40 years ago, Elinor Ostrom began her adventures with the police. In order to combat the conventional view that ‘bigger means better’, Ostrom pioneered a fieldwork-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 fieldwork 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.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Institutional Economics , Volume 9 , Issue 4: Elinor Ostrom Memorial Issue , December 2013 , pp. 407 - 425
Copyright
Copyright © Millennium Economics Ltd 2013 

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