Clean water and adequate sanitation are crucial for community development and a
reduction of waterborne diseases. Despite this certainty, a viable process for achieving
this goal has yet to be formulated. This public health and development problem is not
from a lack of hydraulic or biomedical knowledge. Rather, the failure to provide
community services and infrastructure is rooted in the dynamic interplay between a hyper
formalized public sector bureaucracy and the informal practices of political parties and
patron-client relationships.
Using qualitative, semi-structured interviews and participant observation, this
study undertakes a narrative analysis of three communities and their interactions with
political parties and the public sector in Tijuana, Mexico. Bureaucratic incapacity
prevents the effective management of water and sanitation planning, programs, and
infrastructure development. A sociological analysis of organizations is applied to the
policy subsystem involving the persistent prevalence of waterborne diseases. Faced with
an unresponsive and inefficient public sector, community groups direct their local
development efforts towards political parties and the strategic use of clientelist
relationships in order to procure health care services and community infrastructure. The
role of community participation, as a means toward local empowerment and political co-option
is examined. This study also highlights the need for further research in the areas
of public accountability, public vs. private water management, and the role of
participation in community development. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/23780 |
| Date | 07 1900 |
| Creators | Townsend, Kaya |
| Contributors | Eyles, John, Geography |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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