Kulshrestha, Geeta Mohan
(2007)
Municipal solid waste management in Delhi and London: A comparison of institutional capacity for environmental policy reform.
PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Abstract
This thesis investigates the explanatory value of Martin Janicke's model of capacity for environmental policy reform by empirically applying it to the context of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management in the cities of Delhi and London, mainly during the period 1990 and 2003. The research included a critical review of the existing literature, extensive interviews and secondary sources. The analysis also draws on policy networks theory to analyse interactions between the range of state and non-state actors influencing the environmental policy process. The investigation suggests that, while it is a powerful explanatory tool when applied to MSW policy reform in Delhi and London, Janicke's model underestimates the predominant role played by institutional factors in determining capacity for environmental policy reform. This predominance is established by an examination of how institutional conditions, characterised by particular types of policy networks, mediate the relationship between pressure for environmental protection and effective policy reform. Interactions reflecting the entrenched interests of dominant actors in the policy network influence the alternatives considered for MSW policy reform in both cases in ways that constrains the drive for more environmental sustainability. The thesis concludes that effective policy reform is unlikely to be achieved without institutional change aimed at increasing institutional capacity. The thesis, in its comparative institutional analysis of MSW management in Delhi and London, contributes to the scholarship in the field of capacity building as well as wider international efforts towards sustainable development. It is of immediate relevance to both academic and policy debates.
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