Different public services vary in the forms of politics and governance they adopt, but certain political and governance-related opportunities and constraints around the delivery of specific services frequently recur.

This paper applies a framework for analysing the effects of sector characteristics on service outcomes and a mapping of the underlying governance dynamics and features of the broader political system to electricity services in developing countries.

Based on an indicative review of the literature, it provides a preliminary assessment of how sector characteristics influence the politics and governance of the delivery of electricity services in developing countries, and of how common problems and constraints in governance affect the provision of electricity services to consumers.