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Public-Service Provision in Clientelist Political Settlements: Lessons from Ghana's Urban Water Sector

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  • Marja Hirvi
  • Lindsay Whitfield

Abstract

type="main"> The politics of public-service delivery continues to be neglected under the supposedly more context-sensitive post-Washington Consensus. Using interviews and documentary evidence from Ghana, this article provides an account of the networks of political interference and informal practices in Ghana's public water utility. It argues that, in order to understand why private-sector participation succeeds or fails and why similar arrangements have different outcomes across developing countries, we need to examine the effects of the informal institutional context, particularly the country-specific political settlement in which public-service provision operates.

Suggested Citation

  • Marja Hirvi & Lindsay Whitfield, 2015. "Public-Service Provision in Clientelist Political Settlements: Lessons from Ghana's Urban Water Sector," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 33(2), pages 135-158, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:devpol:v:33:y:2015:i:2:p:135-158
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/dpr.12095
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. World Bank, 2005. "Economic Growth in the 1990s : Learning from a Decade of Reform," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7370, October.
    2. Katharina Gassner & Alexander Popov & Nataliya Pushak, 2009. "Does Private Sector Participation Improve Performance in Electricity and Water Distribution?," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6605, October.
    3. Kate Bayliss, 2008. "Water and Electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Kate Bayliss & Ben Fine (ed.), Privatization and Alternative Public Sector Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa, chapter 5, pages 88-122, Palgrave Macmillan.
    4. World Bank, 2004. "World Development Report 2005," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 5987, October.
    5. Philippe Marin, 2009. "Public-Private Partnerships for Urban Water Utilities : A Review of Experiences in Developing Countries," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2703, October.
    6. World Bank, 2011. "World Bank for Results 2011," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 15792, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Herrera, Veronica, 2019. "Reconciling global aspirations and local realities: Challenges facing the Sustainable Development Goals for water and sanitation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 106-117.
    2. Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai, 2017. "The Political Economy of Regional Inequality in Ghana: Do Political Settlements Matter?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(1), pages 213-229, January.
    3. Pritish Behuria, 2025. "Donors and Disciplines Meet the Political Economy of Development: The Contested Evolution of Political Settlements Analysis," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 25(2), pages 79-102, April.
    4. Giles Mohan, 2019. "Pockets of effectiveness: The contributions of critical political economy and state theory," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-118-19, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    5. Mason, Michael, 2022. "Infrastructure under pressure: water management and state-making in Southern Iraq," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114909, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Ernest Acheampong & Mark Swilling & Kevin Urama, 2016. "Sustainable Urban Water System Transitions Through Management Reforms in Ghana," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(5), pages 1835-1849, March.
    7. Bukenya, Badru & Golooba-Mutebi, Frederick, 2020. "What explains sub-national variation in maternal mortality rates within developing countries? A political economy explanation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    8. Justice Nyigmah Bawole & Peter Adjei-Bamfo, 2020. "Public Procurement and Public Financial Management in Africa: Dynamics and Influences," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 301-318, June.
    9. Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai, 2018. "Rethinking elite commitment to social protection in Ghana: Insights from an adapted political settlements approach," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-112-18, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    10. Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai, 2018. "The political economy of maternal healthcare in Ghana," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-107-18, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    11. Ernest Nti Acheampong & Mark Swilling & Kevin Urama, 2016. "Sustainable Urban Water System Transitions Through Management Reforms in Ghana," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(5), pages 1835-1849, March.

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