Policy Decentralization and the Endogenous Effects of State Traditions: Devolution of Water Management in Ghana and Senegal

Abstract

The widely held belief that decentralization of public services would reduce the fiscal burden of deeply indebted states led a large number of developing countries throughout the 1980s and 1990s to embark on devolution and public sector reform. Among the responsibilities that have generally been devolved are the provision and support of drinking water facilities. There is, however, a substantial cross-national difference in implementation records of public service devolution. This paper argues that state-building legacies, which shaped the capacity of local governments and the opportunity structure of local governments to cooperate with indigenous communities, explain this variation. This argument is analyzed in the context of devolution of water supply in Ghana and Senegal. The analysis shows that the weak capacity of local governments is compensated in Ghana, but not in Senegal, through co-optation of historically strong traditional authorities into local governance structures.     

Focusing Events and Changes in Ecologies of Policy Games: Evidence from the Paraná River Delta

Solving environmental problems on a regional scale demands joint efforts by multiple stakeholders, but coordinating such efforts can be difficult in complex governance systems. In this article, we combine the literature in Adaptive Governance with the Ecology of Policy Games (EPGs) framework to enhance our understanding of how complex governance systems react to environmental focusing events. We study the EPGs in the Paraná River delta in Argentina following widespread fires caused by slash‐and‐burn practices in 2008, and analyze how new forums created to address the consequences of this event differ from the forums created prior to the event in terms of their capacity to attract stakeholders and to provide higher interconnectivity to the whole governance system. Furthermore, we offer an initial evaluation of the Comprehensive Strategic Plan for the Conservation and Sustainability of the Paraná River delta, the main forum in the EPGs created to address the negative consequences of the focusing event. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for the study of complex governance systems where stakeholders are able to address the management of natural resources at a regional scale.     

王蓬长篇小说中的陕南乡土人情

陕西籍作家王蓬的长篇小说《山祭》《水葬》以陕南山乡生活为背景,描写了两段关于在历史变迁下山里百姓的生活境遇和故事。在叙述故事、塑造人物形象的同时,作者给我们展现了陕南奇丽的山水风貌,别具一格的民风民俗,还有独具风情的陕南人民,向读者传达出了极具地域特色的文化风俗和乡土人情,表现了陕南山乡地区独有的秀美以及作者对这片土地的热爱之情。     

Persistently Biased: The Devil Shift in Water Privatization in Jakarta

This article operationalizes an underinvestigated element of the Advocacy Coalition Framework—the “devil shift”—on the controversial issue of water privatization. In doing so, it offers a methodological premise for investigating intractable opposition to policies that are politically salient and high in technical content. It uses the Q methodology on the case of Jakarta, Indonesia to uncover seven discourse coalitions within the anti‐privatization groups. They confirm two key hypotheses within the devil shift, namely the underestimation of a coalition's resources compared with their opponents and the exaggeration of opponents’ unreasonableness. Intriguingly, it finds that the “devil” is constructed in three different ways by this coalition—the profiteer, the Goliath, and the ineffectual governor. The narrative strength of the combination of these beliefs answers an apparent paradox in the devil shift viz that of rational actors persisting in unreasonable beliefs concerning their opponents. It also offers some specific solutions on how to deal with public hostility in water privatization in Jakarta.     

浅谈水文化在旅游开发中的重要性

目前人们在进行旅游规划过程当中,对于水资源的自然属性利用的比较充分,对于水资源的文化属性的挖掘不是很深。充分挖掘水体的文化属性,并将其与水域旅游资源的自然属性相结合,进而运用到旅游活动当中,对于旅游业的发展以及水文化的传播都将起到重要的作用。本文充分论述了中华文明中深厚的水文化积淀,由此展开了挖掘水域旅游资源文化属性的重要意义的探讨。     

广东农村饮水卫生现状及改水对策

我省历史上水性肠道传染病的暴发流行多数与饮水卫生问题有关。为解决农民饮水卫生问题 ,自 5 0年代以来 ,广东以改水为中心的农村卫生工作取得了显著成绩 ,使 98%的农村人口饮水卫生条件得到了改善 ,70 .3%的农民喝上了自来水。但是 ,农村饮水卫生目前仍存在水源受污染、水厂供水合格率不高、分散式供水不安全因素多等问题。改善我省农村饮水现状 ,要结合村镇总体规划做好供水规划 ,保护好水资源 ,完善供水设施 ,加强供水管理     

The technology study of drinking water safeguard replies to the pollution of radioactive, biological and chemical substances

Facing the rigorous safe situation of radioactive, biological and chemical weapon day by day, the safeguard of drinking water, which is the important resource that the survival and development of mankind depend on, will not only face the pollution of traditional pollutant, but also probably suffer the arriving pollution of the non-traditional pollutant in the future. Therefore, in order to improve the ability of drinking water safeguard to reply to the risk of arriving non-traditional pollution caused by suffering the terror or war, it is necessary to develop the removal technique of radioactive substances, biological and chemistry war agent. The category and harm of radioactive, biological and chemical substances which the drinking water may suffer are introduced firstly in the paper. Then the removal techniques of radioactive substances, biological and chemistry war agent are brought. On the basis of analyzing the removal techniques, the combination drinking water decontamination craft of pretreatment--membrane separate--handle behind is designed. Following the craft, the experiment of purging the radioactive substances simulation, biological and chemistry war agent is done. The experiment shows that the removal rates of ten kinds of radioactive nuclide can reach 99.9% and of biological war agent approach 100%. The quality of water which is polluted by chemistry war agent can reach some standard＇s require. Therefore, the fruit of research can provide the practical technique for drinking water safeguard in the future.     

美国水资源保护法的新发展及其启示

美国水资源保护法在20世纪90年代以来呈现出一系列新发展，传统的河岸权开始转向行政许可：积极稳健地推行水市场改革；采取一系列财政经济手段消除或减少非点源污染；努力提高公众参与和公众意识。这对于完善我国水资源保护的立法和执法提供了有益的经验和启示。     

绿色奥运与北京环境法律实施对策研究

绿色奥运,是2008年北京奥运会的重要指导方针,是北京奥运三大理念之一,环境保护已是奥运计划中一个不可缺少的主要部分.本文从分析北京市有关环境保护方面的法律实施中的问题入手,结合环境保护法律制度及奥运规则的要求,结合北京目前的环境现状,探讨解决环境问题的对策.主要就环境保护中的大气污染和水资源问题进行初步探讨.     

物证鉴定中的物证污染问题

物证污染是影响物证鉴定结果的最重要因素之一,它会损害物证鉴定结论质量甚至造成错误的鉴定结论。随着以法医DNA检验为代表的物证鉴定技术检验灵敏度的提高,物证污染出现的可能性及其造成的危害程度都显著增加。物证污染有多种形式和来源,可能发生在犯罪现场或实验室。采取适当的污染防范措施可以有效降低物证污染发生的可能性,及时监测和发现物证污染可以将污染造成的危害降到最低。