Subsidiarity in Principle: Decentralization of Water Resources Management

Stoa, Ryan

doi:10.18352/ulr.267

Cited by 13 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 1 publication

(1 reference statement)

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“…What are the implications of the institutional arrangements on the land rights of small-scale farmers? In this paper, institutional arrangements refer to the formal government organizational structures and informal norms put in place at all levels of government (federal, provincial, and local) for arranging and undertaking its policy work [4]. The paper follows two lines of arguments: First, we demonstrate that decentralization has the tendency to increase competition among local actors in land administration because power and responsibility are transferred downwardly to heterogenous actors with diverse interests.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Decentralization research has mainly focused on a wide range of public policy issues including education, healthcare, waste management, and social policies [1][2][3][4]. For roughly two decades, the World Bank and other international development agencies have pushed for merging objectives of decentralization with land administration and management [5,6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The cases represent a range of experiences with the subsidiarity principle, from chaos to a partial working decentralization. We assume that a variance may influence the analysis of the outcome and the impact of decentralization reform processes [2,4,9]. The cases were also chosen based on the differences in traditional political system, which shape land relations amidst state laws, rules, and regulations [9,33,34].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Politics of Decentralization: Competition in Land Administration and Management in Ghana

Adam

Adams

Gerber

2021

Land

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Decentralization policy forms part of a broader global ideology and effort of the international donor community in favor of subsidiarity and local participation, and represents a paradigm shift from top-down command-and-control systems. Since 2003, the formalization of property rights through titling became an integral component of decentralized land administration efforts in Ghana. The creation of new forms of local government structures and the related changes in the distribution of responsibilities between different levels of government have an impact on natural resource management, the allocation of rights, and the unequal distribution of powers. This paper aims to understand how decentralization reforms modify the balance of power between public administration, customary authorities, and resource end-users in Ghana. Decentralization’s impact is analyzed based on two case studies. Relying on purposive and snowball sampling techniques, and mixed methods, we conducted 8 key informant interviews with local government bureaucrats in land administration, 16 semi-structured interviews with allodial landholders, 20 biographic interviews and 8 focus group discussions with small-scale farmers. The interviews analyzed the institutions and the roles of actors in land administration. Our case studies show that decentralization has the tendency to increase local competition in land administration where there are no clear distribution of power and obligation to local actors. Local competition and elitism in land administration impact the ability of small-scale farmers to regularize or formalize land rights. Thus, the paper concludes that local competition and the elitism within the land administration domain in Ghana could be the main obstacles towards decentralization reforms.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Politics of Decentralization: Competition in Land Administration and Management in Ghana

Adam

Adams

Gerber

2021

Land

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“…The justification of subsidiarity is rooted in moral arguments (liberty and dignity) established by the Catholic Church and subsequently in its perceived political and economic advantages for enhancing representation and efficiency (Marshall 2008;Stoa 2014). The principle has also been justified for the perceived practical value of taking complex decisions based on expertise on the ground (Marshall 2015).…”

Section: The Subsidiarity Principle As a Response To Assignment Challmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decentralisation and drought adaptation: Applying the subsidiarity principle in transboundary river basins

Garrick

2018

Int J Commons

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Determining how to adapt to freshwater scarcity and variability has become an important question for institutional analysis and development. This paper addresses the assignment challenge in drought adaptation, namely the challenge of assigning and coordinating governance responsibilities across nested levels of social organisation. The subsidiarity principle suggests that adaptation decisions and associated governance responsibilities should occur at the lowest level at which they can be performed competently. Droughts and related slow-onset 'shocks' throw into question which level is lowest, and how this varies with the duration, severity and extent of the event. This paper explores the potential for the subsidiarity principle to guide the assignment and assessment of governance responsibilities associated with drought adaptation. It reviews literature at the intersection of common pool resource studies and new institutional economics to elaborate four diagnostic questions: (1) what are the opportunities and limits of decentralised (independent) drought adaptation?; (2) how are social dilemmas and spillovers associated with drought adaptation managed?; (3) when do higher level institutions complement versus crowd out decentralised adaptation?; and (4) how does adaptation by individuals and groups affect adaptive efficiency? An illustrative comparison of drought adaptation in the US portions of the Colorado and Rio Grande Rivers of North America demonstrates: (i) the potential and limits of decentralised adaptation through urban water conservation and irrigation efficiency (ii) the importance of both formal and informal coordination institutions (e.g. river basin organisations) to address cross-border externalities, including conflicts and economies of scale, and (iii) the pivotal role of groundwater management for adaptive efficiency, requiring a balance between local, short-term dependence on groundwater for drought adaptation with transboundary, long-term outcomes caused by unsustainable extractions. 302Dustin E. Garrick

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“…Una prueba evidente de esta generalización del problema es el cambio de escala en la gestión de los recursos hídricos, que está migrando del ámbito local al supranacional (Stoa, 2014), especialmente debido a los efectos del cambio climático (WMO-UNEP, 2008) que se añaden a las obligaciones habituales en la gestión de cuencas hidrográficas. Varios autores (Cosgrove & Cosgrove, 2012;Kundzewicz et al, 2018;WWAP, 2009) destacan como principales impactos los impactos del cambio climático en los recursos hídricos (i) la reducción del suministro de agua; (ii) el aumento en la frecuencia y magnitud de los eventos extremos como las inundaciones y sequías; (iii) daños a las áreas costeras por el aumento del nivel del mar y la salinización relacionada de los acuíferos costeros; (iv) un incremento en las necesidades de agua de riego; (v) la disminución en la calidad de todas las fuentes de agua dulce; y (vi) el aumento de los requisitos funcionales y operativos para las infraestructuras hídricas existentes, asociados también a un incremento en la demanda energética.…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Paradigmas de la gestión integrada del agua (I): una crítica evolutiva a la gestión integrada de los recursos hídricos (GIRH)

Santos

2019

ecociencia

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La gestión de los recursos hídricos ha evolucionado de manera significativa en los últimos 100 años, pasando de la misión hidráulica a la Gestión Integrada de los Recursos Hídricos (GIRH). Este modelo, nacido al calor de la Cumbre de Río de 1992, y arraigado gracias a la adopción del concepto por parte de instituciones internacionales como el Banco Mundial o las Naciones Unidas, se ha convertido a su vez en un paradigma dogmático e incuestionable en el ámbito político. El uso de un lenguaje ambiguo en su definición, su transformación en un concepto nirvana y la ausencia de una evaluación científica y sistemática de las experiencias implantadas -que contribuyan a la mejora de las mismas- ha derivado en un cuestionamiento por parte de un sector de la comunidad científica. El objetivo de este artículo es hacer una revisión histórica del concepto GIRH y plantear una crítica alrededor de aquellos factores que han limitado su implantación.

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Subsidiarity in Principle: Decentralization of Water Resources Management

Cited by 13 publications

References 1 publication

The Politics of Decentralization: Competition in Land Administration and Management in Ghana

The Politics of Decentralization: Competition in Land Administration and Management in Ghana

Decentralisation and drought adaptation: Applying the subsidiarity principle in transboundary river basins

Paradigmas de la gestión integrada del agua (I): una crítica evolutiva a la gestión integrada de los recursos hídricos (GIRH)

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