The United States has experienced swings of public and private operation of its water services for more than 150 years. This paper examines the most recent swing, that of remunicipalization. We argue that much of this remunicipalization is taking place for ‘pragmatic’ reasons related to cost savings and service quality, but there are also signs of more ‘politicized’ forms of water remunicipalization taking place, similar to efforts elsewhere in the world where the process has often involved heated ideological debates and mass mobilizations. Combined with a growing politicization of other social, economic, and environmental issues in the US, water remunicipalization could become more politicized in the future, but a fragmented ‘pro-public’ movement, combined with ongoing efforts to outsource water services and growing resistance to remunicipalization from private water companies, may constrain this potential.

150 多年来，美国的供水服务经历了公共和私人运营的波动。本文考察了最近的一次摇摆，即重新市政化的摇摆。我们认为，这种再市政化在很大程度上是出于与成本节约和服务质量相关的“务实”原因，但也有迹象表明，水再市政化的形式更加“政治化”，类似于世界其他地方的努力。经常涉及激烈的意识形态辩论和群众动员。结合美国其他社会、经济和环境问题日益政治化，水资源再市政化在未来可能会变得更加政治化，但这是一场支离破碎的“亲公众”运动，