Political science | EPFL Graph Search

Political science is the scientific study of politics which is a social science dealing with the analysis and implementation of systems of governance and its impact on societies. Modern political science can generally be divided into the five sub-disciplines of political philosophy, political methodology, comparative politics, international relations, public policy and public administration. History History of political science Origin Political science is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political institutions, political thought and behavior, and associated constitutions and laws. As a social science, contemporary political science started to take shape in the latter half of the 19th century and began to separate itself from political philosophy and history. Into the late 19th century, it was still uncommon that political science was considered a distinct field from history.

Villes à la frontière et transformation de l'espace

Lena Poschet El Moudden

Few borders exist which separate two countries as dramatically disparate as the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Both share the territory of the Hispaniola island, but a profound process of differentiation rooted in the colonial division of the island between France and Spain and ideologically maintained by both modern nations, has lead to what Théodat (1998, 2003) calls the "twofold insularity" – each country behaves as if it were located on a separate island. In spite of all prejudices and ethnical, historical, linguistic, social, economic or religious differences, people living in the border regions established cross-border relations which, even if largely based on economic interests, are much more frequent and important to both nations than officially admitted (De Jesus Cerdano and Dilla, 2005; Sillé & Segura & Cabral, 2002). The local dynamic created by this exchange becomes palpable when one observes the busy binational market in the border towns of Ouanaminthe (Haiti) and Dajabón (Dominican Republic). Twice a week, people from nearly the whole northern part of both countries travel to these towns located on either side of the Masacre River, in order to buy and sell goods or to offer services in the market of Dajabón. The other days, tons of cargo transit to Haiti, to the extent that the once small borderland settlements have become an important junction in the economic subsystem of the northern part of the island. Moreover, the construction of a free zone in Ouanaminthe in 2002 –to produce textiles for the US-market– has connected the borderland towns to the international economy. This recent development is set within a context of progressive opening of borders (Martinez, 1994). It is the result of international policies that have been decided in the capitals, without consulting the concerned regions. In Ouanaminthe and Dajabón, local institutions are weak and receive no or little financial and administrative support from central administration. They do not have the means to cope with growing pressure on land and infrastructure, as the emergence of legal and illegal livelihood opportunities in the borderland has generated a threefold increase of the overall population in the past twenty years (Dajabón grew from 8'500 inhabitants in 1980 to 16'000 in 2002 and Ouanaminthe from 7'000 in 1981 to 39'000 in 2003). How did these recent economic, political and societal transformations shape the urban space of the two borderland towns? I addressed this issue by analyzing the motivation of stakeholders involved in the process of spatial transformation, and the impact of their actions. In my work I refer to the conceptual framework of urban intermediation (Bolay and Rabinovich, 2004), i.e. the spatial issues that each town has to address according to its internal characteristics, its function in national and international networks and its relation to the direct rural environment. In order to use this framework for the borderland issues, the conceptual part of this study proposes to develop the concept of "borderland intermediation". To the existing urban intermediation concept, it adds the influence of the characteristics of the border (based on policy and political aspects, economic issues, local identities, social networks, national defense issues and geographical insertion). By doing so, it relates the bi-national system of borderland towns to the intermediation concept. Data has been collected over three and a half years during several periods of fieldwork: observation and mapping of occupation and use of urban space, cartography, qualitative interviews with local stakeholders and residents, completed by other primary and secondary sources. This study shows that the recent transformations have accentuated the existing unbalanced relationship between the two towns. The powerlessness of the municipality of Ouanaminthe to meet population growth and to impose regulations or taxes related to the growing trade has enhanced its dependency to the Dominican town. For a growing number of Haitians, it is of existential importance to cross over to Dajabón in order to seek income, healthcare and education and this, in spite of latent racism and mistreatments. Founded on a strong sentiment of exploitation, Haitians often criticize the capitalist or even colonialist relationship imposed by their neighbors: not only the fact that the bi-national market takes place in Dajabón, but also that Dominican enterprises develop subsidiaries in Ouanaminthe, taking advantage of cheap labor and the absence of local production. On the contrary, the majority of Dajabón residents interviewed do not need to cross the river for their living. Most of them have never been to Ouanaminthe, but consider it insalubrious, out of control and dangerous. Both towns lack application of regulations in urban planning matters. Thus, spatial growth has entirely been ruled by landowner structure and land occupation practices. Around Dajabón, the adjacent land belongs mainly to two landowners, whose strategy –to enhance soil value through development of equipped middleclass neighborhoods– has restricted the urban sprawl. In Ouanaminthe land belongs to a multitude of small peasants. The selling and illegal occupation of rather small plots leads to sprawling urban growth, guided by rural pathways and leaving entire parts of neighborhoods inaccessible to motor vehicles. Population growth has also been absorbed by high densification of existing neighborhoods. No formal collaborations exist between the two municipalities. Informal ones do, through the implication of the two mayors, but overall, cross-border collaboration is left to NGOs and professional associations who militate for human rights, environmental issues and fair treatment inside the bi-national market. International development agencies present in the borderland initiate projects with bi-national concern, but these are disconnected from the local level and strongly influenced by the fact that these agencies relate directly to the central governments. We also observe a process of internal segregation in both towns, as commercial establishments progressively occupy parts of the town centers and the emergent middle class gathers in specific neighborhoods. Ouanaminthe and Dajabón are functionally interlinked and their transformation is undeniably governed by the progressive permeability of the border. Nevertheless, this border separates two completely different urban landscapes that are deeply marked by the internal characteristics of each town. Furthermore, the unequal and complex relationship of both populations creates the paradox that their spatial proximity accentuates the segregation in both towns, as it allows the citizens of both countries to stay in their environment and to commute –if necessary– even daily. This work shows that the application of the intermediation concept is relevant for the study of complex relationships that govern borderland space. The analysis based on this concept has enabled to study, on a local level, processes that are taking place on a global level. In so doing, it has allowed us to provide some answers to the central question: "How do local populations, national and international firms and governments react when a territorial economy, based on agriculture, is progressively linked to international networks? "

EPFL2006

Métropolisation, habitat précaire et relogement forcé: entre phénomènes d'exclusion et tactiques populaires d'intégration

Sébastien Wust

This work was carried out within the interdisciplinary scientific program named "Sustainable Development, Metropolisation and Pollution of Natural Resources in Ho Chi Minh-City, Vietnam". This program, launched in 1994, is financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Priority Program Environment, Module 7 "Environment and development"). The main goal of this thesis is to grasp the social, economic and spatial dimensions at stake of involuntary resettlement of precarious settlements. in the context of developing countries' metropolisation. One of the approach selected fits within a thorough study of southern metropolis evolution dynamics, more precisely that of disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Moreover, we decided to develop a specific approach of involuntary resettlement, which is constructed using mainly two dialectical and interdependent concepts: exclusion and integration. In this way, this work differs from the most frequently used theoretical models, which are based on impoverishment or stress dimensions. In third world metropolis, government forces have an increasing tendency to turn to involuntary resettlement in order to implement or promote urban planning. Every year, approximately 6 million people are forced to move into an urban environment. This concerns mainly the most underprivileged sections of the population corning from precarious settlements. In recent times, this phenomenon has grown to such a point that some international institutions have even talked about the century of involuntary resettlement. The theoretical framework of this thesis refers to three different fields of knowledge, which nevertheless are linked to one another. The first field concerns developing countries metropolisation. Closely associated with the globalisation and polarisation of international trade, this process leads not only to the rise of exclusion but also to the dualisation of economic, social and political spheres and the fragmentation of urban spaces. The second theoretical field of study is based on questions raised by precarious settlements in southern metropolis. We analyse the way vulnerable populations living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods develop urban integration tactics in order to counter metropolitan exclusion forces and to alleviate precariousness. Finally, the third field is part of involuntary resettlement problematic. While it shares a close link to public policy evaluation, this problematic analyses the institutional values, norms, and practices underlying relocation policies of the people living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Our goal is also to develop a better understanding of the consequences associated to this kind of urban program and the way they might contribute to strengthening living conditions as well as residential situation precariousness for those who have been forced to move, leading them to develop defence mechanisms in order to guaranty their integration in the metropolis. In this analysis, we will focus on Ho Chi Minh-City and on the relocation program concerning the populations living in Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe canal's precarious settlements. In the empirical part of this work, we will analyse and measure the consequences of this policy on their living conditions as well as on their behaviour. We will try to analyse to what extent those consequences tend to increase exclusion of underprivileged populations, limit their integration capacity, and enhances their residential mobility towards new precarious settlements that fit more to the aspirations, and above all, to the means of the underprivileged. Given the complexity of the topic covered in this work, we opted for an interdisciplinary approach. It appeals to different fields of social sciences: sociology, economics, geography, political sciences, but also architecture and urban planning. Moreover, we chose a quantitative as well as a qualitative method. Based on a multidimensional analysis of Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe canal's population living in precarious settlements, we will be able to grasp the discriminating dimension of involuntary resettlement policy set up by metropolitan authorities as well as its severe impact on the population at a residential, social and economical level. Restrictive economic criteria or in some cases insufficient compensations offered by public authorities are such that a number of persons are excluded from the program. But on top of that, part of the families relocated in modern and salubrious apartments suffer from exclusion. As regards housing, the new apartments are characterised by their limited residential functions. This is mainly due to constraints linked to high rise housing, which acts as an economic and social barrier. In terms of social organisation, involuntary resettlement leads to a family nuclearisation process, and traditional sociability tends to turn to a more individualistic way of life, a phenomenon which results in a partial deconstruction of solidarity and protection networks. Finally, at the domestic economy level, resettled populations have to deal with an increase in service charges as well as working conditions deterioration which involve decreasing incomes. Although this modern way of life appeals to resettled families, most of them are brought to develop new integration tactics in order to limit involuntary resettlement exclusion effects. These tactics are to a large extent conservative inasmuch as they tend to reproduce ways of life and space habits characteristic of the former residential areas. To a large extent, they are characterised by palliative measures of space utilisation, professional insertion, income improvement and domestic means reallocation. Despite their willingness, families have a hard time fighting against resettlement exclusion forces. Residential mobility as well as subsidised apartments resale then become the way for some families to minimise precarious living conditions. Nevertheless, the benefits they gain from these illegal practices are often insufficient for them to buy or build an accommodation close to the center of the metropolis. The only possibility left to the reseller is then to rent a dwelling unit in a disadvantaged neighbourhoods or to move on the outskirts. While residential mobility leads to the creation of new precarious settlements in Ho Chi Minh-City, some families living conditions as well as residential situation keep on deteriorating, a decline which might bring some of them to experience a kind of urban nomadism. While the results of our study confirm the hypothesis stated at the beginning of this work, they also point out how hard it is to fulfill the housing aspirations of the most underprivileged considering the precariousness of their living conditions. The inadequacy of precarious settlements relocation policy is even worse when based on a modernist and standardised approach of the housing problem which favours typological and technical dimensions of residential space to the detriment of social, economic and ecological dimensions. What is at stake in involuntary resettlement concerns mainly the multidimensional mechanisms of exclusion and integration of which depends the subsistence of the most underprivileged in Ho Chi Minh-City. Urban authorities need to make political adjustments if they want resettlement impacts to fit the goals of sustainable development. In order to achieve this objective, popular participation and exchange between involved actors is the first condition they need to fulfill for the implementation of any policy in order to fight against exclusion and promote the integration of the most underprivileged as well as for any policy which aims to take into account the capacity of urban ecosystems.

EPFL2001

Integrated water resources management

Cherryl André de la Porte

Decreasing water availability per capita in more and more countries is the result of bad management over the past centuries. The 'world water crisis', however, is not inevitable. The concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) has been promoted over the last ten years as a possible way of reversing such a trend. One of its most fervent promoters is the Global Water Partnership, according to which "IWRM is a process which promotes the co-ordinated development and management of water, land and related resources, in order to maximize the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems" (GWP, 2000: 22). A number of authors are critical of an appropriation of the IWRM concept by the Global Water Partnership devoid of its historical evolution over more than 70 years (Biswas, 2005; Mollard and Vargas, 2005a). As a result of this omission, these authors question the applicability and usefulness of the concept and call for assessing the effectiveness of IWRM implementation. The difficulties of practical IWRM implementation are manifold and include issues of scale, as well as institutional, political, and social constraints to sectoral and environmental integration (Tortajada, 2005; Duda and El-Ashry, 2000; Mitchell, 1990), that can be more or less specific to developing countries (Thioubou, 2002). The 1992 Mexican Water Law, amended in 2004, explicitly refers to IWRM as a national objective. As a result, there has been fairly extensive research on the implementation of IWRM in Mexico at the national level. This study assesses the implementation of IWRM efforts in the municipality of El Grullo (Jalisco), to identify the local and necessary conditions to enhance these. We first recall the innovative aspects of the IWRM concept, as compared to more traditional water management. Ambitious, integrated water resources management is a holistic approach that includes both the natural system (water and its diverse components –surface water/groundwater, quantity/quality– but also all other environmental resources such as land, forests and biodiversity in general) and the human system, including all the different uses (domestic, agricultural, industrial, etc.) (Mitchell, 1990). Integrated water management is an indicator of what Gleick (2000) qualifies as a change in paradigm between the 20th century –where infrastructure development enabled to better exploit resources, perceived as unlimited– and the 21st century, where finite resources are to be managed in order to maintain ecological integrity. Integrated water resources management is necessary to realise this 'blue revolution' (Calder, 2005). It requires, on the one hand, a participative and negotiation-oriented institutional framework and, on the other hand, water pricing tools, so as to balance demand and supply (Meublat, 2001). At the level of a municipality, implementing IWRM efforts translates, on the one hand, in ensuring good quality municipal water and sanitation services without impacting surrounding ecosystems and, on the other hand, participating –with other municipalities and institutions– in coordination activities at the level of the basin or sub-basin (Smits and Butterworth, 2006). Seven months of fieldwork over a three-year period enabled to realise a number of interviews, both with households in the El Grullo municipality (in four urban neighbourhoods and three villages) and with key informants (the local authorities of El Grullo and five neighbour municipalities, members of the Ayuquila-Armería Watershed Commission and researchers from the partner institution IMECBIO). These interviews were complemented by direct observation as well as secondary sources of information. Our results show that in spite of being well endowed in water resources, the municipality of El Grullo does not manage to provide good quality potable water services. Water distribution is irregular and forces households to resort to appropriate social practices (e.g. use of various storage methods and alternative water sources). The inequity of the variable water service quality is reinforced by a fixed water fee system, in the absence of meters. Further, the lack of any wastewater treatment station impacts riparian villages and aquatic ecosystems located downstream from the wastewater discharge. Efforts are currently underway to address these issues: the municipality wishes to have water meters installed, and is also negotiating a concession with a private company for a constructed wetland to treat municipal wastewaters. At the regional level, the Ayuquila-Armería Watershed Commission, which was established in 1998, is criticised for the poor effective participation it generates and its lack of means and concrete results. Created in reaction to finance local priorities, the Inter-municipal initiative of the lower Ayuquila watershed, a negotiation platform that convenes ten municipalities, is in comparison relatively successful. Developed through a ten year trust-building process by the researchers from the University of Guadalajara and the directorship of the Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve, it has enabled the Ayuquila River to regain its original state, as well as set up a series of measures to protect the environment (e.g. the establishment of fire brigades and solid waste separation and recycling programmes). The Ayuquila-Armería Watershed Commission wishes, in turn, to replicate this model throughout the whole watershed. Although the management plan is still to be designed at the basin scale, these inter-municipal initiatives are indeed judged more flexible and better adapted to IWRM implementation. These results show that in order for the El Grullo municipality to enhance its efforts in terms of IWRM, important changes must take place. More specifically, decentralisation must be reinforced, at the level of both the municipal water board and the Ayuquila-Armería Watershed Commission. First, the potable water tariffs should be set independently by the municipal water board, on the basis of its operating costs –and not on that of political calculations, as is actually the case by the Jalisco State Congress. This would contribute to put an end to the vicious circle entailed by the municipal board's insufficient financial capacity (i.e. lack of staff, limited infrastructure maintenance, heterogeneous water services, lack of meters, non-payment of fees, etc.), along with other factors at stake (like encouraging a culture of payment). The Ayuquila-Armería Watershed Commission should also benefit from more freedom and means, in order to increase its credibility among the municipalities its territorial borders encompass. The effective transcription of the 2004 reform of the Water Law, which seems to point in that direction, is awaited by all those interested in this issue. This thesis thus confirms previous analyses of problems surrounding IWRM implementation in Mexico (Mollard and Vargas, 2005b; Tortajada, 2005; García, 2004; Centro del Tercer Mundo para el Manejo del Agua, 2003; Martínez et al., 2002b). It also highlights the importance of finding country-specific ways for ensuring effective IWRM implementation. In particular, this may mean considering other scales than that of river basins.

EPFL2007