This volume explores how public policy can foster or limit social coordination in the market, civil society, and within various levels of government. Some chapters in this volume are more theoretical, applying public choice and market process theory to public policy issues, while other chapters examine practical, real-world case studies.

This volume explores, both in theory and in practice, what “social coordination” is and how public policies can help or hinder the processes of social coordination. In particular, these chapters examine the institutional incentives that motivate public policy decisions and their implementation to achieve specific individual and social goals. Some chapters in this volume are more theoretical, applying insights from the Austrian, Virginia, and Bloomington schools of political economy to public policy issues. Other chapters are more practical, exploring the broader implications of these theories to real-world public policy puzzles. Authored by individuals from a variety of disciplines with diverse interests in public policy, this work includes discussions of topics such as environmental policy, housing policy, and education policy, among others. A unifying theme across the chapters is that policymakers often advise one-size-fits-all solutions to complicated public policy questions but ignore the multitude of incentives faced by the “players of the game” and the subsequent development of diverse forms of social coordination. Social coordination is often left out public policy analysis but is crucial to the success of informal and formal institutional arrangements. The chapters aim to disentangle these issues of social coordination in public policy in theory and practice.

IntroductionSocial Coordination and Public Policy: Explorations in Theory and Practice by Roberta Q. Herzberg, Gavin Roberts, and Brianne Wolf

Part ITheories and Methods of Social Coordination

Chapter 1Social Coordination in a Complex Society: A Framework for Action by Emily Chamlee-Wright

Chapter 2Rawls, Hayek, Buchanan, and Social Justice: From Rules to Recognition by Alexander Köhler

Chapter 3Are RCTs Missing a Point? Local Knowledge and Computer‑Assisted Learning Interventions by Carlos Noyola

Part IICase Studies in Social Coordination

Chapter 4Destruction to Beauty: The Polycentric Adaptive Reuse of the Torpedo Factory by Olivia Gonzalez

Chapter 5Local Constituencies, Lobbying, and the Fight to Keep Local Bases Open during the 2005 Round of Base Closure and Realignment by Julie Thompson-Gomez

Chapter 6Social Media and Social Movements: How Technology Has Aided Coordination by Ellen Hamlett

Chapter 7Stakeholder Primacy as a New Institutional Framework for the Entrepreneurial Market Process? by Mikołaj Firlej

Part IIIChallenging Social Problems: Environmental and Natural Resource Applications

Chapter 8Compliance Markets Without Romance: Lessons from the Renewable Fuel Standard by Arthur R. Wardle

Chapter 9A Calculus of Communication: Deliberation, Knowledge, and Public Choice in the Context of Water Management by Emil Panzaru

Chapter 10Entrepreneurial Discovery in Land-Use Planning by M. Nolan Gray