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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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    References listed on IDEAS

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    4. 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.
    5. World Bank, 2010. "City of Accra, Ghana Consultative Citizens' Report Card," World Bank Publications - Reports 2883, The World Bank Group.
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    Cited by:

    1. 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).
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. 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.

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