Drinking Water and Politics

You might be interested in a recent journal paper of mine that focuses on the impact of politics on drinking water. The paper seeks to address a growing lack of historical knowledge in the water industry of how European Union (EU) water policy has developed and been responded to. It also aims to overcome the lack of comparative studies that explore the role politics has played in the development and application of EU water policy. As a result, the paper develops an historical comparative understanding of how England and Wales and the Republic of Ireland have responded to the Drinking Water Directive (80/778/EEC). It does so from the perspectives of political priority and ideology. Political ideology is shown as having had a greater impact on facilitating achievement of the Directive’s standards in England and Wales. However, it is established that the political priority national governments have accorded compliance has been central to ensuring the application and enforcement of the Directive’s standards. Despite the apparent success of political ideology in England and Wales, the paper sounds a note of caution with regard to judging privatisation as being uniformly successful, for it has not, particularly if issues of water charges, customer debt, and financial and reporting irregularities are considered.

 If you want to know more, why not check out the full paper: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122525687/abstract