How lack of legitimacy leads to policy failure: public resistance to water charges in Ireland Open Access
Schuitema, Geertje / Aparajita BanerjeeExternal Publications (2025)
in: Water Policy, first published 16.12.2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2025.076
Open access
An attempt to reintroduce a water charge in Ireland failed 18 months after its implementation in 2015. Election results were decisive in the abolition of previously implemented water charges by voting for anti-water charge parties. We conducted a systematic archive study to analyse how a lack of legitimacy and subsequent public resistance were embedded in a history of organised public demonstrations and boycotts. We show how a historic lack of legitimacy has exacerbated failures in policy programme, process, and activities. We argue that this historic context may also explain why the water charges stood out as the most contested policy in a period when many austerity measures were taken. This case serves as an example of policy failure resulting from a lack of legitimacy and a subsequent policy resistance. It serves as a warning that if public resistance can be expected, a policy without broad political support and a clear contingency strategy to mitigate public resistance is likely to fail. In particular, when there is a historic lack of legitimacy, greater effort is required to avoid policy failure and achieve successful implementation.