Let's Recommon IT

A Grammar of Institutions

Crawford, Sue E. S.; Ostrom, Elinor (1995). American Political Science Review 89(3): 582–600

Threads: Institutions, Design patterns

Summary

Proposes a syntax for breaking any institutional statement into five components (ADICO). It distinguishes three kinds of institutional statement by which components they contain: shared strategies, norms, and rules.

Why it’s useful here

  • A method for writing and auditing community tech governance documents: codes of conduct, acceptable use policies, admin procedures. Every rule should name who, what, when, and the consequence.
  • Useful for analyzing platform terms of service: what is a rule with real sanctions vs. a norm with none.
  • Close in spirit to code. Policies written in ADICO form are structured enough to compare and possibly to automate.

Key ideas

  • ADICO: Attributes (who), Deontic (may/must/must not), aIm (action), Conditions (when/where), Or else (sanction)
  • Strategies = AIC; Norms = ADIC; Rules = ADICO
  • Basis for the “institutional grammar” research program
  • ostrom-2005-understanding-institutional-diversity.md
  • graeber-2015-utopia-of-rules.md

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