Mobilizing the State: The Erratic Partner in Brazil's Participatory Water Policy

Rebecca Neaera Abers and Margaret E. Keck
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Rebecca Neaera Abers: University of Brasília, Brazil, rebecca.abers@gmail.com
Margaret E. Keck: Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, mkeck@jhu.edu

Politics & Society, 2009, vol. 37, issue 2, 289-314

Abstract: Studies of participatory governance generally examine the input (deliberation, participation) and/or output (accountability) side of policy processes. Often neglected is the throughput: Does the state have the political and technical capacity to implement the decisions that deliberative bodies make? In this study of Brazilian river-basin committees, the authors find that activists inside and outside the state often must collaborate to overcome resistance to change and provide state officials with resources they lack. They argue that this does not constitute the transfer of state responsibility to private actors but rather the mobilization of a state's capacity to defend the public interest.

Keywords: participatory governance; water policy; state capacity; deliberation; Brazil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:polsoc:v:37:y:2009:i:2:p:289-314

DOI: 10.1177/0032329209334003

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