Deliberation and Scale in Mekong Region Water Governance

摘要: Understanding the politics of deliberation, scales, and levels is crucial to understanding social complexity water-related governance. Deliberative processes might complement inform more conventional representational bureaucratic approaches planning decision-making. However, they are also subject scale level politics, which can confound institutionalized Scale contests arise in dialogues related arenas because different actors privilege particular temporal or spatial scales their analysis, arguments, responses. include whether administrative, hydrological, ecosystem, economic boundaries. Level subdistrict province, tributary watershed international river basin, a biogeographic region, local regional economy. In Mekong Region there recurrent demand for water resources development projects major policies proposed by governments investors be scrutinized public. forms engagement potentially very helpful encourage supporters critics articulate assumptions reasoning about opportunities risks associated with alternative options, doing so, often traverse enable higher-quality conversations within across between levels. Six case studies from examined. We find evidence that affects context, process, content, outcomes deliberative region where public deliberation still far being norm, particularly sensitive far-reaching choices made use energy production.