Commons, the The concept that the major resources of the planet (land, air, and water) are commodities to which all people have equal right of access and use, and which no one has a right to spoil. The concept was popularized following the publication of an article, ‘The Tragedy of the Commons’, by Garrett Hardin, in Science in 1968, Hardin having derived it from a pamphlet by William Forster Lloyd (1794–1852) published in 1833. See also Malthusianism.

Commons, the in historical usage, the common people regarded as a part of a political system, especially in Britain. In the UK, the Commons is also short for the House of Commons, the elected chamber of Parliament.

Commons, the The concept that the major resources of the planet (land, air, and water) are commodities to which all people have equal right of access and use, and which no one has a right to spoil.