Towards a democratic civilization for the 21st century

Professor Wagner characterizes Vincent Ostrom's oeuvre as a meditation on Hamilton's question of “whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice”. In this comment, I note that the themes in Professor Ostrom's work also respond to Alexis de Tocqueville's challenge to develop a “new science of politics” for a new world. In a world where state failure in the Third World has led to development failure and more, Ostrom's contributions show what is required to achieve a vibrant democratic civilization in this new century.