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Prerna Singh, How Solidarity Works for Welfare: Subnationalism and Social Development in India. New Delhi: Cambridge University Press. 2016. 332 pages. ₹495.

This paper examines decentralized reform initiatives in the Indian rural water sector from a policy perspective as well as from a political perspective focused on institutional design and implementation at the local level. It argues that normative economic prescriptions regarding decentralization are not very useful. The paper finds that the institutional architecture for decentralized reforms is highly contested and requires a better understanding of power and the role of micro-politics in shaping decentralization designs and outcomes. It also suggests that greater devolution in the water sector can lead to greater decentralization and democratization across sectors.

This study of decentralised institutions for forest management brings out the varied dimensions of local institutions and politics as they interface with property rights and decentralisation. Unlike the economic literature on decentralisation that is dominated by normative and prescriptive arguments on how a shift towards decentralisation should take place, this paper makes a case for re-centering of the political in the decentralisation literature. This political study of decentralisation does not prescribe decentralisation rules, but weighs the different social, economic and ecological outcomes under varied local conditions. It takes note of the diversity of local institutions and politics in the interpretation of formal rules, power relations, legal rights, moral claims, social custom, and the establishment of informal institutional arrangements. This is done in the context of questioning the typologies of neat property regimes that are broadly categorised as — open-access, state, private and common property - in the economic literature. These widely accepted typologies are tested at the local level and it is found that ownership does not necessarily refer to control and use of resources. The paper highlights the heterogeneity of property regimes under which the village communities manage the forests, and points out that specific state-society relations in particular villages determine the entitlements of the villagers. Importantly, the nature of collective action on decentralisation and negotiation of institutional design has an impact on the consequences at the local level. As the local reality is based on varied local resources, institutions, political processes and social capital, uniform national or state policies have very different local outcomes. This paper asks if it is possible to evolve policies that incorporate diverse institutional arrangements with a combination of different kinds of property rights under decentralised local governance management.

Institutional reforms in the drinking water sector in the Philippines have taken the shape of "privatisation" and "decentralisation". This paper reviews the working of these new institutions in the form of water utility, association and cooperatives in the province of Oriental Negros in the Philippines. While highlighting the important role that the provision of safe drinking water can play in poverty alleviation, this paper questions the ability of these reforms in addressing pressing concerns of poverty and access to water services. The case studies also point to the inability of this model to address wider concerns related to the public goods nature of water. Yet, decentralisation is not synonymous with privatisation and this paper points to the different paradigms of decentralisation (with varying degrees of private and public elements) in the water sector. The paper argues that the decentralisation vision enacted in Local Government Code of 1991 provides an opportunity for the state to deprivatise the drinking water sector and affirm the pivotal role of the local government in the provision of public goods.

Institutional reforms in the drinking water sector in the Philippines have taken the shape of "privatisation" and "decentralisation". This paper reviews the working of these new institutions in the form of water utility, association and cooperatives in the province of Oriental Negros in the Philippines. While highlighting the important role that the provision of safe drinking water can play in poverty alleviation, this paper questions the ability of these reforms in addressing pressing concerns of poverty and access to water services. The case studies also point to the inability of this model to address wider concerns related to the public goods nature of water. Yet, decentralisation is not synonymous with privatisation and this paper points to the different paradigms of decentralisation (with varying degrees of private and public elements) in the water sector. The paper argues that the decentralisation vision enacted in Local Government Code of 1991 provides an opportunity for the state to deprivatise the drinking water sector and affirm the pivotal role of the local government in the provision of public goods. Adapted from the source document.