Publication: The Dilemma of Autonomy: Decentralization and Water Politics at the Sub-National Level
Loading...
Files in English
613 downloads
Published
2017-01-19
ISSN
0250-8060
Date
2017-03-08
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
This article develops a framework for understanding the role of subnational states in water politics in decentralized federal systems. First, that role has increased worldwide as a result of decentralization. Second, the quest for autonomy sometimes leads subnational officials to prefer weak forms of cooperation. Third, the interaction of subnational states, central governments and non-governmental actors largely explains interjurisdictional conflict and cooperation in shared river basins. This framework is applied to the case of the Colorado River basin to help explain a long-term shift towards more cooperative relationships between the riparian states.
Link to Data Set
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Citations
- Cited 16 times in Scopus (view citations)
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Responding to the Challenge of Fragility and Security in West Africa(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015)The inability to unlock natural resource wealth for the benefit of developing countries’ local populations, a phenomenon popularly known as the ‘resource curse’ or the ‘paradox of plenty’, has spawned extensive debate among researchers and policy makers in recent years. There is now a well-established body of literature exploring the links between natural resources and conflict, with some sources estimating that over the past 60 years, 40 percent of civil wars have been associated with natural resources. Following this introduction, Section two provides an overview of interstate tensions in West Africa in order to improve understanding of the drivers of fragility that trigger conflict between countries around extractive industry investment. Here, the discussion is grounded in examples in which interstate tensions have been apparent, including the case of the Mano River Union, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, a region with a history of conflict, and where the exploitation of commercial deposits of high-value resources may continue to have a potentially destabilizing effect. Section three focuses on the decentralization of natural resource revenues, a process that proponents believe can help manage grievances and defuse intrastate tension in areas directly affected by resource extraction, but one that is also not without challenges. Drawing upon the case of Ghana’s Mineral Development Fund, the section explores the potential for conflict (and conflict triggers) to arise when the redistribution of extractive industry revenues to subnational regions takes place. In doing so, it becomes apparent that the capture and misuse of revenues from the fund is as much a political issue as it is a policy or technical one. This sets the stage for section four, which focuses in greater detail on extractive industry-related conflict within catchment communities, and how contestation is most often a result of unequal power relationships. Section five, the conclusion, summarizes and reflects upon some of the challenges and struggles over resource management associated with West Africa’s recent resource boom, and draws out some of the cross-cutting themes. Here, suitable entry points for future lines of inquiry and engagement are identified.Publication Country Partnership Framework for the Plurinational State of Bolivia for the Period FY16-FY20(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-11-04)Bolivia’s distinct characteristics and aspirations are a key for understanding its development trajectory. Bolivia is one of the countries with the highest share of indigenous population, representing a tapestry of different groups with different historical, cultural and economic features, with a significant influence in policy decision making. The country is landlocked and one of the most sparsely populated in the world. As a result, long distances to the nearest seaports and markets and a challenging topography pose important natural constraints to economic expansion, and hamper broad-based and inclusive growth. Bolivia is also wealthy in natural resources, not only in hydrocarbon and in mining but in forestry and arable land, with high potential for growth, which make it vulnerable to commodity price shocks. In addition, in the last decade, the country has experienced a profound economic and political paradigm shift, enshrined in the 2009 Constitution, which has been predominantly driven by a state-led development model geared at addressing the social aspirations of Bolivians. The Agenda Patriótica provides the overall policy vision to 2025 and includes 13 strategic pillars. The PDES contains a five-year rolling plan with policy actions and budgets to operationalize the Agenda Patriótica. The overarching development agenda of the Government is still, by and large, based on an economic model that emphasizes state-led public investment, but which is increasingly opening up to private investment in important areas.Publication Stakeholder Dialogue as an Institutional Strategy for Sustainable Development in China : The Case of Community Environmental Roundtables(2011-08-01)Stakeholder dialogue, as an alternative institutional strategy for environmentally and socially sustainable development, has received little attention from researchers and practitioners in developing countries such as China, even though the dialogue strategy can potentially lead public governance to a more efficient level. This paper first discusses the potential of stakeholder dialogue as an institutional tool for promoting sustainable development in China, and then presents a pilot program of stakeholder dialogue recently developed in China -- the community environmental roundtables. Community leaders organize roundtable dialogues where representatives from government agencies, companies and the local residents exchange their views toward certain environmental issues they are facing and discuss possible ways to resolve the issues. Informal agreements are reached during the dialogues and implemented after them. This community roundtable dialogue strategy has been piloted in dozens of Chinese municipalities, addressing various environmental issues. A survey of dialogue participants shows that significant impacts have been generated on environmental protection, community management, as well as social and institutional development at the community level. Mutual understanding and trust among the government, companies, and local citizens are enhanced, environmental and social conflicts are reduced, and the public performance of various parties has been improved. This approach is expected to help solve other conflicts and public governance issues in China as well. The potential challenges of institutionalizing such a program in China are also discussed in the paper.Publication Philippines : Country Water Resources Assistance Strategy 2003(Washington, DC, 2003-06)The Water Resources Sector Strategy (WRSS) supports implementation of the Bank's 1993 Water Resources Management Policy, using the experience updated internationally, with water resources and management. This country Water Resources Assistance Strategy (CWRAS) identifies the Philippines principal water resource challenges, the current situation, how the Bank is assisting at present, and what it should in the future. In summary this strategy can be summarized as follows: 1) Bank assistance should translate the rhetoric of water conservation, and sustainability, into practical-realistic programs, and policies; 2) focus should be on promoting cooperation of local government units (LGUs), and water users themselves, and, on following a "bottom-up and top-down" approach, that includes active participation of water users, in addition to developing infrastructure, and management into water resources projects; 3) water resource management (WRM) initiatives should respect cultural practices, which have evolved to provide sustainable WRM in a micro-watershed context. Indigenous water systems provide clues to how WRM should be rooted in the socio-cultural context; and, 4) prioritize support for the use of economic instruments in managing river basins, facilitating private sector participation I the water supply and sanitation sector, and supporting the decentralization of responsibilities for WRM.Publication Lesotho Highlands Water Project : Communication Practices for Governance and Sustainability Improvement(World Bank, 2010)The past decade has witnessed major shift thinking about water, including how water infrastructure development strategies can help advance sustainable development and the global fight against poverty. This reflects, in part, greater attention now being paid to governance reforms promoting integrated water resource management (IWRM), the efficient and wise use of water, and expanding access to water and energy services. In addition, the increased emphasis on developing and implementing anti-corruption strategies increases confidence that water infrastructure can be developed efficiently and equitably. There is also growing appreciation of the strong linkages between water, environment and energy security and climate change - impacting on decisions about the development and management of water infrastructure, especially in water-stressed regions, and of the central role that public, private sector and civil society partnerships can play in encouraging innovation, tackling challenges, promoting transparency and accountability and creating synergy. Communication is the thread that links these concerns and underpins achievements in sustainability and governance reform in water. Not only to ensure that up-front strategic assessments mobilize all viable options to meet the challenges unique to each situation, but also to better integrate governance and anti-corruption reforms and sustainability into all stages of planning and the project cycle of infrastructure. Wider acceptance of multi-stakeholder dialogue is a trend which characterizes beneficial change. This LHWP is notable for its progressive learning approach as it moved through its implementation phases and is an example of the shift s that are occurring globally in approaches to dam planning and management as they have become more inclusive. It is also a key example of the critical importance of political will in tackling corruption in a large water infrastructure project.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Environmental, Social, and Governance Investing(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-03-01)This primer responds to central banks’ growing demand for knowledge on social, governance, and environmental considerations (ESG) in the investment process. This area has gained traction in the last two decades. More recently, central banks’ interest in ESG has increased, but much of the information available is aimed at investors with different investment objectives and broadly diversified portfolios. The authors fill that information gap by reviewing the definitions of ESG and the main ESG investment approaches, including their applicability to asset classes. The authors then examine how foreign reserve managers can apply ESG investing in their reserve management operations. The authors find limited scope for implementing ESG strategies in reserve management, given that most central banks still invest primarily in sovereign bonds of major economies. Yet, the authors also identify opportunities and critical considerations for central banks interested in implementing ESG investing in their reserve management operations.Publication Empowerment in Practice : From Analysis to Implementation(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2006)This book represents an effort to present an easily accessible framework to readers, especially those for whom empowerment remains a puzzling development concern, conceptually and in application. The book is divided into two parts. Part 1 explains how the empowerment framework can be used for understanding, measuring, monitoring, and operationalizing empowerment policy and practice. Part 2 presents summaries of each of the five country studies, using them to discuss how the empowerment framework can be applied in very different country and sector contexts and what lessons can be learned from these test cases. While this book can offer only a limited empirical basis for the positive association between empowerment and development outcomes, it does add to the body of work supporting the existence of such a relationship. Perhaps more importantly, it also provides a framework for future research to test the association and to prioritize practical interventions seeking to empower individuals and groups.Publication Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises : A Toolkit(Washington, DC, 2014-10-04)This Toolkit provides an overall framework with practical tools and information to help policymakers design and implement corporate governance reforms for state-owned enterprises. It covers the key elements of corporate governance, including legal and regulatory framework, state ownership arrangements, performance management systems, financial and fiscal discipline, boards of directors, transparency and disclosure, and protection of shareholders in mixed ownership companies. Experience shows that no one approach is universally applicable and the choice of measures depends on country and enterprise circumstances. The Toolkit thus provides a range of frameworks, concepts, case examples, checklists, and model documents that together aim to help government officials make the appropriate choices for their circumstances. The Toolkit concludes with guidance on managing the reform process, in particular how to prioritize and sequence reforms, build capacity, and engage with stakeholders.Publication Digital Progress and Trends Report 2023(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-05)Digitalization is the transformational opportunity of our time. The digital sector has become a powerhouse of innovation, economic growth, and job creation. Value added in the IT services sector grew at 8 percent annually during 2000–22, nearly twice as fast as the global economy. Employment growth in IT services reached 7 percent annually, six times higher than total employment growth. The diffusion and adoption of digital technologies are just as critical as their invention. Digital uptake has accelerated since the COVID-19 pandemic, with 1.5 billion new internet users added from 2018 to 2022. The share of firms investing in digital solutions around the world has more than doubled from 2020 to 2022. Low-income countries, vulnerable populations, and small firms, however, have been falling behind, while transformative digital innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI) have been accelerating in higher-income countries. Although more than 90 percent of the population in high-income countries was online in 2022, only one in four people in low-income countries used the internet, and the speed of their connection was typically only a small fraction of that in wealthier countries. As businesses in technologically advanced countries integrate generative AI into their products and services, less than half of the businesses in many low- and middle-income countries have an internet connection. The growing digital divide is exacerbating the poverty and productivity gaps between richer and poorer economies. The Digital Progress and Trends Report series will track global digitalization progress and highlight policy trends, debates, and implications for low- and middle-income countries. The series adds to the global efforts to study the progress and trends of digitalization in two main ways: · By compiling, curating, and analyzing data from diverse sources to present a comprehensive picture of digitalization in low- and middle-income countries, including in-depth analyses on understudied topics. · By developing insights on policy opportunities, challenges, and debates and reflecting the perspectives of various stakeholders and the World Bank’s operational experiences. This report, the first in the series, aims to inform evidence-based policy making and motivate action among internal and external audiences and stakeholders. The report will bring global attention to high-performing countries that have valuable experience to share as well as to areas where efforts will need to be redoubled.Publication Impact Evaluation in Practice, Second Edition(Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank and World Bank, 2016-09-13)The second edition of the Impact Evaluation in Practice handbook is a comprehensive and accessible introduction to impact evaluation for policy makers and development practitioners. First published in 2011, it has been used widely across the development and academic communities. The book incorporates real-world examples to present practical guidelines for designing and implementing impact evaluations. Readers will gain an understanding of impact evaluations and the best ways to use them to design evidence-based policies and programs. The updated version covers the newest techniques for evaluating programs and includes state-of-the-art implementation advice, as well as an expanded set of examples and case studies that draw on recent development challenges. It also includes new material on research ethics and partnerships to conduct impact evaluation. The handbook is divided into four sections: Part One discusses what to evaluate and why; Part Two presents the main impact evaluation methods; Part Three addresses how to manage impact evaluations; Part Four reviews impact evaluation sampling and data collection. Case studies illustrate different applications of impact evaluations. The book links to complementary instructional material available online, including an applied case as well as questions and answers. The updated second edition will be a valuable resource for the international development community, universities, and policy makers looking to build better evidence around what works in development.