Constitutionality: Conditions for Crafting Local Ownership of Institution Building Processes
This article presents constitutionality as a new approach for analyzing bottom up institution building processes emphasizing local perceptions and local agency in common pool resource management. Using four case studies fisheries in Zambia; pasture and forestry in Mali; fisheries in Indonesia; forestry in Bolivia this approach analyzes examples of local institution building differing from top down imposed participation. Our analysis highlights six components of constitutionality: emic perceptions of the need for new institutions, participatory processes of negotiation, preexisting institutions as a basis for institution building, outside catalyzing agents, recognition of local knowledge, and higher level acknowledgment of the new institutions.