Y a-t-il un sens de l'histoire dans les services d’eau ? Un modèle post-évolutionniste

Abstract

Is the history of water services already written: toward a post-evolutionist model. This paper proposes a model aiming at explaining the diversity and the evolution of the main management principles of water and sewerage utilities worldwide. It discusses a purely evolutionist model built from existing literature. Such a model suggests a logics in the evolution of water utilities management and organisation according to technical, financial and governance issues. The analysis of French, Colombian, South-African and Ugandan paths shows the worth of completing such an approach with the work of Kingdon (1984) and Jabko (2009). Far from rejecting an historical direction, the proposed frame explains why so many combinations of management principles exist, even non-performing ones. Moreover, this paper highlights change mechanisms based on the emergence of crises and the game of coalitions, where ambiguity plays a crucial role. This frame of analysis finally explains the limits of importing management models, and may therefore be relevant for other sectors of public action.