System Building from Below: Institutional Change in Dutch Water Control Systems

Abstract

The Netherlands faces the North Sea to the north and to the west, and three major rivers—the Rhine, the Maas, and the Schelde—have their outlets in the country. The ability of its inhabitants to control the water flows of this sea and these rivers has for many centuries been decisive for the safety and prosperity of the country. In the Middle Ages, Dutch peasants were able to drain peat bogs and transform them into fertile farmlands. The drainage canals they employed in this task doubled as a transportation network and facilitated the development of commerce and rapid urbanization. This prepared the ground for the golden age of the seventeenth century, when Amsterdam was the commercial and cultural center of the world and per capita income was higher in the Netherlands then anywhere else. Today the Rotterdam harbor is one of the biggest in the world, and commerce, transportation, and agriculture are major sectors of a Dutch economy still dependent on the careful control of flowing water. But water has not only been a blessing to the Dutch. At times they have lost control over it, and the sea or the rivers have broken through the dikes. Devastating floods are traumatic events in the history of the country, and they remain a threat today. 1