Water from the Heights, Water from the Grassroots : The Governance of Common Dynamics and Public Services in La Paz-El Alto
In this paper, the authors approach water governance not only through the prism of sectoral organization and the official services, but also through all of the practices, still to be “integrated” into the regulatory framework,that give rise to orde...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/280611487333986222/Water-from-the-heights-water-from-the-grassroots-the-governance-of-common-dynamics-and-public-services-in-La-Paz-El-Alto http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26097 |
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okr-10986-260972021-05-25T08:57:40Z Water from the Heights, Water from the Grassroots : The Governance of Common Dynamics and Public Services in La Paz-El Alto Botton, Sarah Hardy, Sébastien Poupeau, Franck governance public service delivery institutional economics public goods regulation water resources management community-driven development In this paper, the authors approach water governance not only through the prism of sectoral organization and the official services, but also through all of the practices, still to be “integrated” into the regulatory framework,that give rise to order and social progress. In doing so, we do not wish to limit public actions tog overnment decisions, however much these may have been democratically debated or even jointly constructed, but rather we wish to re-articulate social practices and collective action. consider that what society produces for itself is an integral part of governance. For this, start with the example of access to urban water in Bolivia, as that public action in Bolivia and the water sector not only emblemize what is being played out on the regulation front between State, communities, and society, but also question the place that the collective interest holds within the sphere of general interest. Firstly, the political project of Evo Morales, Bolivia’s first Aymara president and a defender of the country’s traditional values, was to redefine the rules of the game in view of reappropriating a national identity. The intent was to make them less liberal and more inclusive, notably by attempting to integrate the dynamics of customary practice into the workings of the modern State. Moreover, his policies have largely been based on the re-appropriation of national resources, in a broadand highly symbolic move to negotiate with the multinationals that manage the country’s water, gas and oil industries. Secondly, the water sector lends itself particularly well to an analysis of multi-stakeholder governance as the reality of large cities in developing countries is still one where limited or failing public services struggle to serve agglomerations and keep up with the pace of their demographic growth. Public water distribution services (managed by the State or delegated to the private sector) are thus systematically “supplemented” informally by a multitude of other players whose social function is crucial: small private traders, itinerant or network operators, community services (cooperatives or user associations), resale by neighbors, etc. These stakeholders participate in water governance even if they are not part of the sector’sregulatory framework. After setting up a panorama of the official urban water sector in La Paz-El Alto, two cases that typify the thinking on the way that the dynamics of the commons and public service are interlinked : one involves the environmental risks and possible trade-offs required to balance the interests of communities and the general interest, while the other concerns the issues of articulating grassroots common services (water cooperatives) and public service. 2017-02-21T17:46:31Z 2017-02-21T17:46:31Z 2017-01 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/280611487333986222/Water-from-the-heights-water-from-the-grassroots-the-governance-of-common-dynamics-and-public-services-in-La-Paz-El-Alto http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26097 English en_US CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Working Paper Latin America & Caribbean Bolivia |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
governance public service delivery institutional economics public goods regulation water resources management community-driven development |
| spellingShingle |
governance public service delivery institutional economics public goods regulation water resources management community-driven development Botton, Sarah Hardy, Sébastien Poupeau, Franck Water from the Heights, Water from the Grassroots : The Governance of Common Dynamics and Public Services in La Paz-El Alto |
| geographic_facet |
Latin America & Caribbean Bolivia |
| description |
In this paper, the authors approach
water governance not only through the prism of sectoral
organization and the official services, but also through all
of the practices, still to be “integrated” into the
regulatory framework,that give rise to order and social
progress. In doing so, we do not wish to limit public
actions tog overnment decisions, however much these may have
been democratically debated or even jointly constructed, but
rather we wish to re-articulate social practices and
collective action. consider that what society produces for
itself is an integral part of governance. For this, start
with the example of access to urban water in Bolivia, as
that public action in Bolivia and the water sector not only
emblemize what is being played out on the regulation front
between State, communities, and society, but also question
the place that the collective interest holds within the
sphere of general interest. Firstly, the political project
of Evo Morales, Bolivia’s first Aymara president and a
defender of the country’s traditional values, was to
redefine the rules of the game in view of reappropriating a
national identity. The intent was to make them less liberal
and more inclusive, notably by attempting to integrate the
dynamics of customary practice into the workings of the
modern State. Moreover, his policies have largely been
based on the re-appropriation of national resources, in a
broadand highly symbolic move to negotiate with the
multinationals that manage the country’s water, gas and oil
industries. Secondly, the water sector lends itself
particularly well to an analysis of multi-stakeholder
governance as the reality of large cities in developing
countries is still one where limited or failing public
services struggle to serve agglomerations and keep up with
the pace of their demographic growth. Public water
distribution services (managed by the State or delegated to
the private sector) are thus systematically “supplemented”
informally by a multitude of other players whose social
function is crucial: small private traders, itinerant or
network operators, community services (cooperatives or user
associations), resale by neighbors, etc. These stakeholders
participate in water governance even if they are not part of
the sector’sregulatory framework. After setting up a
panorama of the official urban water sector in La Paz-El
Alto, two cases that typify the thinking on the way that the
dynamics of the commons and public service are interlinked :
one involves the environmental risks and possible trade-offs
required to balance the interests of communities and the
general interest, while the other concerns the issues of
articulating grassroots common services (water cooperatives)
and public service. |
| format |
Working Paper |
| author |
Botton, Sarah Hardy, Sébastien Poupeau, Franck |
| author_facet |
Botton, Sarah Hardy, Sébastien Poupeau, Franck |
| author_sort |
Botton, Sarah |
| title |
Water from the Heights, Water from the Grassroots : The Governance of Common Dynamics and Public Services in La Paz-El Alto |
| title_short |
Water from the Heights, Water from the Grassroots : The Governance of Common Dynamics and Public Services in La Paz-El Alto |
| title_full |
Water from the Heights, Water from the Grassroots : The Governance of Common Dynamics and Public Services in La Paz-El Alto |
| title_fullStr |
Water from the Heights, Water from the Grassroots : The Governance of Common Dynamics and Public Services in La Paz-El Alto |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Water from the Heights, Water from the Grassroots : The Governance of Common Dynamics and Public Services in La Paz-El Alto |
| title_sort |
water from the heights, water from the grassroots : the governance of common dynamics and public services in la paz-el alto |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2017 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/280611487333986222/Water-from-the-heights-water-from-the-grassroots-the-governance-of-common-dynamics-and-public-services-in-La-Paz-El-Alto http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26097 |
| _version_ |
1764460953179521024 |