The Design and Promise of the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework

Abstract

In September 2009, Peter deLeon and Christopher Weible, co-editors of this journal, approached Dr. Elinor Ostrom with the suggestion that she identify a list of authors who would contribute to a "state-of-the-art" report on the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) Framework that had been formulated over a number of years by Dr. Ostrom and her colleagues at Indiana University's Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis. The co-editors suggested that while there was a sizable literature on the IAD, it was circulated within the policy community, and it was not as well disseminated and utilized as should be the case. Dr. Ostrom agreed and proposed a program to develop a series of articles, which included a two-day seminar at the School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado Denver. These articles were then subjected to the journal's peer review process. The revised manuscripts were given a second presentation at the 2009 meeting of the American Political Science Association. This issue of the Policy Studies Journal reflects these activities. This Introduction briefly comments on the individual articles as well as suggests avenues for the continued refinements of the IAD.