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Polycentric Governance
“One problem can have overlapping decision centers without merging them into one.”
01 / SUMMARY
In short
Polycentric governance distributes authority among partly autonomous units that cooperate, compete, and learn. It can join local knowledge with broad coordination, but needs ways to handle conflict and accountability.
03 / SCENE
In the wild
Municipalities, water-user groups, and a national regulator govern different layers of one watershed.
04 / LIMIT
The limit
More centers do not automatically improve governance; they may duplicate work, exclude, or shift blame.
FINAL NOTE
What remains
Map powers, overlaps, and routes of appeal instead of merely counting institutions.