On the border of the United States and Mexico, few policy issues face such acutechallenges as those related to water. Border cities face an uncertain future watersupply, low-income neighborhoods often lack water and sewer services, andwater contamination poses a risk to the health of residents and the environment.Responses by government agencies on both sides of the border have beeninsufficient. Increasing economic development has mainly resulted in increasingproblems. These limitations of government and market forces suggest thatnonprofit organizations—the so-called “third sector”—might play an importantrole in meeting the growing challenges in the region.Finding that these organizations do have a positive impact, Daniel Sabet seeksto understand how autonomous nonprofit organizations have emerged anddeveloped along the border. He employs data from more than 250 interviewswith members of civil society organizations and public officials, surveys ofneighborhood association leaders, observations at public meetings, and manysecondary sources. His research compares the experiences of third-sectororganizations in four prominent Mexican border cities: Tijuana, Nogales, CiudadJuárez, and Nuevo Laredo.Sabet finds that political change is a necessary precondition for the establishmentof an independent third sector. The demise of one-party rule in Mexicohas given nonprofit organizations greater opportunities to flourish, he finds, butpersistent informal rules still obstruct their emergence and development. Sabetconcludes that the success of the third sector will depend on the organizations’networks. He examines organizational ties to three key groups—U.S. nonprofits,the business community, and government-created methods for public participation—and evaluates the importance of these connections for the future....