Abstract

VELEZ, María Alejandra. Complex Systems of Local Government: Reflections on Collective Land-titling in the Pacific Coastal Region of the Cauca Valley. rev.estud.soc. [online]. 2009, n.32, pp.74-84. ISSN 0123-885X.

Behind the collective titling of almost six million hectares of land to black communities in the Pacific Coast region of Colombia is the formation of more than 157 Community Councils as the new local government and highest authority in the territory. Law 70 of 1993 not only changed the property regime in the Pacific Region, when it moved from an open access to a common property regime (Berkes et al. 1989; Ostrom 2000), but it also changed the political map of the region by promoting the formation of the Community Councils as the new form of local government. From an institutional perspective, this article examines the case of the Community Councils in the rural area of Buenaventura using the principles defined by Ostrom (1990, 2005) that characterize robust and sustainable self-governed systems. The definition of property rights and the exclusion of non-members is the frst step in the sustainable use of resources. Equally important, however, is the regulation of community members, which goes beyond just defining and formalizing the rules for natural resource management. The greatest challenge facing Buenaventura's Community Councils is the establishment of a monitoring and enforcement system that gradually penalizes non-compliance (Ostrom 2005).

Keywords : Collective Titling; Common Property; Black Communities; Pacific Region; Institutions.

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