ABSTRACT
This study of the dynamics of making and shaping urban water reform policy uses
Delhi as a case study and takes as its starting point a critique of linear versions
of policy making, highlighting the complex interplay of power, knowledge, and
agency in water policy processes. Policy, as argued in this chapter, is not shaped
simply on the basis of agenda setting preceded by good research and information,
nor does it emerge from bargaining amongst actors on clearly defi ned options
and choices. Rather, it is a more complex process through which particular inter-
pretations of water come to frame what counts as knowledge and whose voices
count in the deliberations in particular political and institutional contexts. To
conceptualize policy as a process means that we need to explicitly acknowledge
the importance of the social and historical context in which policy is shaped and
implemented (Mooij 2003). This means that policy processes are likely to be
contextual and vary across countries, political systems, and policy areas.
