Global governance of access to water and sanitation: An approach from the theory of Regime Complexes

Abstract

This theoretical reflection article seeks to highlight the way in which the problem of water and sanitation can be represented from the theoretical perspective of Regime Complexes. Specifically, through a qualitative research methodology, it will be indicated if the case study addressed operates as an elementary regime within a broader regime complex or whether, in turn, it represents a regime complex itself that involves an overlap of partial and non-hierarchical institutions. The relevance of this case study is manifested in the coupling of theoretical and pragmatic implications, since it is expected that deepening in the conceptual scaffolding of the theory of the Complexes of Regimes contributes to systematize the operation of multilateral institutions dedicated to water and sanitation in practice. As the main conclusion, it is noted that the water and sanitation issue is located in a blurry and overlapping border of institutional arrangements at the multilateral level, as it plays a transversal and important role within multiple dimensions of development and positions itself as a basic precondition for the fulfillment of a broad set of human rights. In this sense, water and sanitation oscillate, on the one hand, between being considered as a subject closely linked to various areas of issues on the global agenda —which therefore cannot be separated from their scope— and, on the other, representing a matter that deserves a specific treatment according to its own particularities. It is argued that these considerations can only be explained from the application of the conceptual apparatus of the Regime Complex theory.