We propose to include dimensions of justice more explicitly into institutional and policy analysis of environmental governance. We investigate how alternative frameworks for the analysis of environmental institutions - the IAD framework by Elinor Ostrom, the Environmental Governance framework by Arild Vatn, and the Diagnostic Approach by Oran Young - address concerns of justice.
More specifically, we ask: (1) What dimensions and elements of justice are relevant for institutional analysis and design? (2) Do these dimensions appear in existing frameworks for institutional analysis?
And (3) if not, can these frameworks be adapted to include core elements of justice? Based on the political philosophy literature on justice the authors develop a check-list of different dimensions and aspects of justice, which they use when analyzing the different frameworks for institutional analysis. We find that the investigated frameworks, although not explicitly excluding questions of justice, do not fully exploit their potential to consider different dimensions and categories of justice. Drawing on the conceptual analysis as well as on the limited examples of empirical studies which examined justice as part of an institutional analysis, we suggest ways to improve the analysis of justice in institutional analysis frameworks.