When Policy Hits Practice: Structure, Agency, and Power in South African Water Governance

Förster, Jan Janosch; Downsborough, Linda; Chomba, Machaya

doi:10.1080/08941920.2016.1268658

Cited by 25 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(1 reference statement)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Given this relatively well-developed normative basis, the central challenges in developing an effective regulatory framework for the bioeconomy clearly emerge in the later stages of the governance cycle, i.e., in the implementation and enforcement of the existing rules [29]. The adoption of regulations into state legislation is one possibility, but it presupposes the existence of functioning state enforcement mechanisms, which do not exist in many emerging and developing countries.…”

Section: Governance Of Risks and Goal Conflictsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Governance of the Bioeconomy: A Global Comparative Study of National Bioeconomy Strategies

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

More than forty states worldwide currently pursue explicit political strategies to expand and promote their bioeconomies. This paper assesses these strategies in the context of the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our theoretical framework differentiates between four pathways of bioeconomic developments. The extent to which bioeconomic developments along these pathways lead to increased sustainability depends on the creation of effective governance mechanisms. We distinguish between enabling governance and constraining governance as the two fundamental political challenges in setting up an effective governance framework for a sustainable bioeconomy. Further, we lay out a taxonomy of political support measures (enabling governance) and regulatory tools (constraining governance) that states can use to confront these two political challenges. Guided by this theoretical framework, we conduct a qualitative content analysis of 41 national bioeconomy strategies to provide systematic answers to the question of how well designed the individual national bioeconomy strategies are to ensure the rise of a sustainable bioeconomy.

show abstract

Section: Governance Of Risks and Goal Conflictsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Governance of the Bioeconomy: A Global Comparative Study of National Bioeconomy Strategies

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…He further points to differentials in knowledge, values, beliefs and access to political structures among water users. Similarly, Förster et al (2017) in their analysis of water reform in South Africa draw attention to differentials in resources and capabilities such as finance, logistics and knowledge among water users that may enable or constrain participation. Recent review by the Department of Water and Sanitation in South Africa (Department of Water Affairs, 2013) on whether water user associations contribute to empowerment of previously disadvantaged social actors provides crucial insights and lessons on challenges of establishing and designing institutional arrangements for adaptive governance for other countries in southern Africa.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Social Exchange Analysis of Adaptive Governance in Water Allocation Processes, the Kafue Flats, Zambia

Chomba

Hill

Nkhata

et al. 2019

International Journal of the Commons

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Adaptive governance is an emergent approach to water allocation that alludes to the social conditions that enable the range of interactions among actors as they agree and pursue mutually desired water allocation outcomes. Limited successful efforts aimed at implementing adaptive governance suggest a dearth in understanding and implementing adaptive governance. Using the analytic lens of social exchange theory, we draw attention to relations of dependence by examining efforts aimed at establishing an equitable water allocation regime on the Kafue Flats of Zambia. Relations of dependence are as a result of differential access and control of hydromentality. In the context of this research, hydromentality includes discourse on water allocation, institutional arrangements and techniques for control of hydraulic infrastructure. The research used in-depth interviews, stakeholder workshops and document analysis. The research illustrates the case in which hydropower and commercial irrigation farmers, access and control hydromentality. In this way, these few key actors are able to either facilitate or constrain adaptive governance processes thereby influecing water allocation outcomes on the Kafue Flats. We conclude by asserting that adaptive governance does not occur in a vacuum and as such require greater attention to relations of dependence as social actors pursue desired water allocation outcomes.

show abstract

“…Since the 1990s, the South African government developed a framework of water management which adopted ideas of collaborative governance and aimed to change the uneven distribution of power. However, the power asymmetries of relevant actors still hindered the effective operation of the framework [29].…”

Section: Responsibility Mechanism Of Rcsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is particularly suitable for larger basins (such as those that cover the entire country or even cross borders) which include more different stakeholders and need more public consultation and participation [51]. The establishment of some water user associations, as an ongoing political process, alleviated power asymmetries in the framework of collaborative water governance in South Africa as mentioned in Section 4.1.1 [29].…”

Section: Government-based Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

Rethinking Environmental Bureaucracies in River Chiefs System (RCS) in China: A Critical Literature Study

Huang

2019

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Efforts to understand the political complexities of water governance must include critical hierarchical or bureaucratical perspectives. The River Chiefs System, China’s national mechanism which has evolved from local attempts, values more political control than governance efficiency. Water governance, which is regarded as a political task, is allocated from river chiefs at higher levels to lower levels. The River Chiefs System stipulates that local river chiefs fully mobilize and integrate various technical and administrative forces to achieve environmental goals. However, the strengthening of local authority enables local river chiefs to combat or eliminate state power. Although public involvement in the River Chiefs System is encouraged to some extent, “government-dependent” public participation hardly ensures real public involvement and supervision.

show abstract

When Policy Hits Practice: Structure, Agency, and Power in South African Water Governance

Cited by 25 publications

References 28 publications

Governance of the Bioeconomy: A Global Comparative Study of National Bioeconomy Strategies

Governance of the Bioeconomy: A Global Comparative Study of National Bioeconomy Strategies

A Social Exchange Analysis of Adaptive Governance in Water Allocation Processes, the Kafue Flats, Zambia

Rethinking Environmental Bureaucracies in River Chiefs System (RCS) in China: A Critical Literature Study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About