Most of the world's population lives in cities in developing countries, where access to basic public services, such as water, electricity, and health clinics, is either inadequate or sorely missing. Through the lens of urban water provision, this book shows how politicians fail to provide reliable and high quality public services because they often benefit politically from manipulating public service provision for electoral gain. In many young democracies, politicians exchange water service for votes or political support, attempting to reward allies or punish political enemies. Surprisingly,...