The Bloomington School

The Bloomington School, which is most associated with the work of Nobel Prize winner Elinor Ostrom and her husband Vincent Ostrom, is recognized for its innovative bottom-up approach to the study of institutions. By way of its focus on the individual as opposed to the state, however, the Bloomington School emphasizes the capacity of citizens to self-regulate and thereby find the most appropriate solutions to local problems. This course, taught by three professors from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, delves into the main concepts of this school —polycentricity, co-production, self-governance, etc.— and their application to specific cases.