Abstract: Elinor Ostrom developed the Collective Action Theory, which provides the collective action dilemma with the third solution—called the Self-governance and Institutional Analysis Theory. Because of this outstanding academic contribution, she was awarded the Nobel Economics Prize. This paper tries to seek for the logic rout of Elinor Ostrom’s academic ideology development, discusses her ideology’s sources, empirical research in the early period and the latest research achievements, and finally analyzes the evolution of the Self-governance and Institutional Analysis Theory and its contributions