Power in Collaborative Approaches to Governance for Water: A Systematic Review

This article uses a formal systematic review to examine the extent to which literature discussing collaborative approaches to water governance reflects understanding and awareness of power-related considerations. It makes the case that an analytical approach grounded in theory on power can facilitate assessment of the factors affecting collaboration by identifying the multiscalar, interrelated mechanisms through which power affects collaborative processes and outcomes. Through the review process, it became apparent that fully accounting for power will better enable scholars to link together seemingly disparate conditions for collaborative success (e.g., inclusion, decision-making power, capacity). A power-based approach also incorporates broad socioeconomic factors that fundamentally shape processes but often lie outside the analytical scope of local or regional studies on collaboration. Accounting for power, in the forms and scales identified, will result in better -designed, more effective collaborative approaches to water governance.