'This book wrestles intelligently with the puzzle of why an authoritarian regime, China, is more proficient at providing essential public goods than a robust democracy, India. This counter-intuitive outcome is the subject of this important work by Selina Ho. She highlights the crucial role of informal institutions and normative principles in explaining service provision as determinant rather than regime type or other factors. The work is essential reading for anyone interested in the relationship between the politics of welfare, regime type and public goods provision.' Tony Saich, Daewoo Professor of International Affairs, Director, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School
1. Public goods provision in China and India; Part I. Social Contracts: 2. Social contracts, institutional design, and public goods provision; 3. The Chinese social contract; 4. The Indian social contract; Part II. Comparing Urban Water Management in China and India: 5. Comparing China's and India's water institutional frameworks; 6. Quenching thirst in China's first-tier cities: Shenzhen and Beijing; 7. Water constraints in India's megacities: New Delhi and Hyderabad; 8. Conclusion: types of social contracts and can social contracts change?