A Common Tragedy: Promises to Benefit the Public Interest and the Enforceability Problem

Authors

Irma S. Russell, University of Missouri - Kansas City, School of LawFollow

Publication Date

Spring 2005

Document Type

Article

Abstract

This article examines the challenge of enforcing promises made to benefit the public, using environmental commitments such as wetland restoration as a central example. It argues that while contractual promises between private parties are routinely enforced, similar promises made to the public often fail due to lack of effective enforcement mechanisms. Drawing on Garrett Hardin’s “Tragedy of the Commons,” the paper explores how individual incentives discourage both performance and enforcement of such promises. The analysis highlights the limitations of agency resources, barriers to citizen enforcement, and the inadequacy of existing legal frameworks to ensure accountability for public benefit commitments. It proposes that contract law, particularly doctrines such as third-party beneficiary enforcement, could strengthen public interest protections and supplement statutory and regulatory approaches to preserving the commons.

Publication Title

Texas Wesleyan Law Review

Volume

11

Issue

2

Recommended Citation

Irma S. Russell, A Common Tragedy: Promises to Benefit the Public Interest and the Enforceability Problem, 11 Texas Wesleyan Law Review 557 (2005).
Available at: https://irlaw.umkc.edu/faculty_works/50