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

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.