Re-visiting the Tragedy of the Commons: Environmental Governance in the Era of Autocracy Ascent

• In Event: Political Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Environmental Politics (Table 6)

Abstract

This study revisits the foundational logic of the “tragedy of the commons,” offering new cross-national evidence on the governance of shared resources. It challenges claims that protecting the Global Commons is primarily determined by a country’s development and that benefit-seeking is inherently harmful to the sustainability of the Global Commons. Building on Ostrom’s emphasis on institutional context and extending her framework to national and global governance, the analysis shows how political institutions shape the management of shared resources, like emissions reduction, ecosystem management, and energy transition. Using a global dataset of 155 countries (1990–2023) and Linear Mixed Models with crossed random effects, it shows that democracies—through accountability, transparency, and citizen oversight—consistently reduce emissions and manage ecosystems effectively. Conversely, autocracies’ contributions to sustainability stem from economic incentives and benefit-seeking rather than public accountability. The results indicate that the profitability of renewables, along with the reputational, political, and economic gains of global environmental leadership, incentivizes regimes to adopt pro-environmental policies and initiatives. As renewable energy and ecological systems receive substantial recognition and economic returns, the study projects that democratic and autocratic governments will converge in becoming consequential contributors to global sustainability, not through transparency or accountability, but through strategic incentives aligned with benefit-seeking. Such outcomes will not only advance environmental sustainability but also global peace, reducing expansionary pressures and geopolitical competition over land, water, minerals, and energy, which heightens the risk of war.

Author

• Barbara Wejnert, University at Buffalo