La democrazia dei beni comuni dalle narrazioni (ed evocazioni) ad una proposta di modellizzazione: le arene di policy urban common-based

During last fifteen years, common-pool resources theory has increased its influence on European social scientists, from political economy to political science. Although decoded, and frequently discussed, also as a political rhetoric, the theoretical frame developed by Elinor Ostrom was mainly shaped to support the analysis of semi-public goods supply dilemmas, and, properly assessed alongside democratic theory, it could help decipher ongoing tendencies in grassroots participation. The article aims to translate Ostrom’s public choice model into a frame for democratic theory, using urban commons to arrange a new typology of micro-policy arena strictly defined in its constituency and in its logic of decision-making. By premising some theoretical settings, the urban common-based micro-policy arena shows to encourage participatory policy making at the local level, therefore supporting an anti-rhetorical use of Ostrom’s theory.