Street‐Level Bureaucrats and Irrigation Policy Reform in Southeast Asia

Policy reforms are difficult for developing states, especially when they are meant to improve cooperation and collaboration between private citizens and state officials, such as in the case of education, health care provision, business‐state relations, and policing. A large part of this challenge is that the policy reforms required for coproduction of services necessitate development of state capacity in new directions. Using the substantive issue of irrigation reforms, especially those aimed at improving service provision and farmer participation, I identify three lessons for reformers regarding the implementation of policy for the coproduction of services. Drawing on extensive fieldwork in Thailand and Indonesia, as well as the experience of the National Irrigation Administration in the Philippines, I emphasize the importance of street‐level bureaucrats. The lessons drawn from irrigation policy are comparable to other practice‐intensive state activities.