Ethnic Coalitions of Convenience and Commitment: Political Parties and Party Systems in Kenya

Elischer, Sebastian

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1114123

Cited by 26 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…In becoming ethnic coalitions of convenience rather than of (socio-economic) commitment (Elischer, 2008), political parties have abdicated their bona fide roles as shapers of alternative development strategies, to become agencies for the prospective distribution of elitist, short-termist rents, which discourage longer-term productive investments. This is embedded in a political culture that relies strongly on patronage channels along lines of ethnic identification building political support.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Erratic Development in Kenya: Questions from the East Asian Miracle

Nyanjom

Ong'olo

2012

Development Policy Review

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At first sight, Kenya seems to have had more scope than other African countries to emulate the development trajectory described in the World Bank study, The East Asian Miracle. These assets did not, however, result in sustained growth – an outcome this article aims to explain using a negative turning point in the early 1990s. The most striking difference between the East Asian and Kenyan experiences was the acceptance – and even exacerbation – of socio‐economic inequality as an immutable reality of development, plus the weak belief in the integrity of Kenyan institutions. A constitutional review process is one possible political solution for this.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Erratic Development in Kenya: Questions from the East Asian Miracle

Nyanjom

Ong'olo

2012

Development Policy Review

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“…The ethnic groups are distributed across the country as shown in Table 1. Elischer (2008) Kiswahili is the national and the official language, next to English (RoK 2010). The latter is the medium of instruction in schools after Grade 3.…”

Section: Sociolinguistic and Political Profile Of Kenyamentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnicity, Language, and Identity in Kenya

Ogechi

2019

ModAfr

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This article unravels the manipulation of language and nonlinguistic communication strategies in political and sports discourses to negotiate various identities in Kenya. Kenya is multilingual with over 42 stable and unstable languages1 whose users are, historically, “forced” into one country. Through a historical sociolinguistic approach, the article analyses code choice, stereotypes, jokes and nicknames for ethnic and other identity negotiation. It shows that negative ethnicity based on “we” versus “they” dichotomies enhances ethnic cleavages but Sheng pervades ethnic boundaries and politicians use it to endear and identify themselves with the youth. The present article calls for responsible language use.

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“…The weak support basis of the parties-with no formal party membership (or only a very narrow membership basis)-meant that it was not too difficult for those interested (and wealthy enough) to consider vying for a nomination to stand for parliament to convince those present at nomination gatherings to accept the person's plea-in particular if it was supported by strong arguments (in the form of cash being distributed). The fluidity of the party concept and the relationship between ethnicity and party (Elischer 2008)-among both grassroots supporters and some of the new candidates standing for election-did not make it easier for voters to find a party to vote for based on ideology and policy visions, even though it is has been demonstrated that government performance and issues also influenced the electoral outcome (Gibson and Long 2009). …”

Section: Institutional Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of International Organisations During Electoral Crises: The Case of Kenya 2007–08

Elklit¹

2011

Representation

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International organisations play many different roles during election processes in new and emerging democracies (and in countries hoping to be seen as democracies). These roles-and their impactbecome particularly interesting during situations that develop into 'an electoral crisis'. An electoral crisis is some kind of humanitarian or political (or other) crisis, where administrative or other problems in relation to an electoral process function as the trigger of the crisis. Many such crises have occurred over recent years, but this article will focus on the Kenyan case of 2007 -08. The tragic violence and ethnic cleansing shocked the world during early 2008. The instrument established jointly by the government of Kenya and international organisations to investigate what went wrong and what should be done to remedy the situation was IREC, the Independent Review Commission. The article demonstrates how international organisations were involved during the electoral process and also makes clear that the considerable amount of international assistance before and during the election was of almost no avail, while it was more useful after the election. IREC's surprising conclusion was that the main problems in the elections were not the finalisation of the vote count and the tabulation or the subsequent presentation of results. One has to look to the country's ethnic composition and history, to Kenya's political culture, and to the incompetence of the Electoral Commission of Kenya to understand why the expectations of an exemplary electoral process were turned into such a misery, despite international assistance from the very beginning of the electoral process.The simultaneous presidential, parliamentary and civic elections in Kenya on 27 December 2007 were disastrous. They were not only disastrous because many of the politically most established and well-known losers did not accept their electoral fate-as they might have done if the election results had been credible to them-but also because serious election-related violence erupted, in some places even before results were known. However, most of the emotion and most of the violence only occurred after the official announcement of the winner of the presidential contest, i.e., the incumbent president, Hon. Mwai Kibaki of PNU (the Party of National Unity), and the surprisingly low-key swearing-in ceremony immediately thereafter. In most cases, the protesters shared the opinion that Hon. Raila Odinga of ODM (the Orange Democratic Movement) should have been declared the winner as he-at least by his supporters-was expected to have got more votes than Kibaki.Estimates of the number of deaths due to the violence oscillate between 1,000 and 1,500, the number of rapes and other forms of physical harassment and intimidation is unknown, and the number of internally displaced persons is anybody's guess, but it was probably in the vicinity of 400,000.

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Ethnic Coalitions of Convenience and Commitment: Political Parties and Party Systems in Kenya

Abstract: This paper analyzes the role of ethnicity in shaping the character of Kenya's political parties and its party system since 1992. Drawing on a constructivist conception of ethnicity, it uses a framework of comparison derived from Donald Horowitz and distinguishes be-

Cited by 26 publications

References 14 publications

Erratic Development in Kenya: Questions from the East Asian Miracle

Erratic Development in Kenya: Questions from the East Asian Miracle

Ethnicity, Language, and Identity in Kenya

The Role of International Organisations During Electoral Crises: The Case of Kenya 2007–08

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