ABSTRACT
John Bruce defines property as 'a set of rights and responsibilities concerning a thing; property also is the term for the thing itself.' This chapter distinguishes two different types of property: private and public property. Looking at rights and responsibilities, a 'property regime' is a complex of rules, principles, and procedures that in a specific community or society regulate legitimate control over, access to, and conditions of use of the means of existence and of production, as well as the acquisition and transfer of such resources. Originally most of the land in Europe once was held under communal rules in which land was primarily seen as a resource for survival for everyone belonging to the clan or the group dwelling in a certain area. The rules of a property regime should appeal to the current population of a nation because of the social function of property.
