Africana Periodical Literature 
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| Title: | Re-Democratisation in Kenya: 'Unbounded Politics' and the Political Trajectory towards National Elections |
| Author: | Steeves, Jeffrey S. |
| Year: | 1997 |
| Periodical: | Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics |
| Volume: | 35 |
| Issue: | 3 |
| Period: | November |
| Pages: | 27-52 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Kenya |
| Subjects: | ethnicity democracy political parties Politics and Government |
| External link: | https://doi.org/10.1080/14662049708447751 |
| Abstract: | Political life in Africa is defined by the reality of the ethnic affiliation of and claims upon political leaders. A Kenyan politician, for example, is defined as a Kikuyu or a Luo or a Kalenjin. Focusing on the form and substance of political competition in Kenya from 1992 to the present, the author applies an 'unbounded politics' framework, which acknowledges the centrality of ethnic claims and calculations in a situation where advancing the interests of one's group takes precedence over all else, to the Kenyan political space. Given political developments in Kenya since the return to multipartyism, he suggests that Kenya is tracking quickly towards the same 'unbounded politics' model that prevails in Melanesia. He highlights the model briefly with reference to the Solomon Islands and then examines the salient features of Kenya's 1992 national elections and the trajectory towards the 1997 elections. Between 1992 and 1997, opposition party fracturing and new party formation have prevailed. Within KANU there are competing KANU A and KANU B factions, as well as 'reformers' versus 'conservatives'. As the next elections approach, it is likely that there will be further fracturing within the ethnic bases of the contending political heavyweights. Notes, ref. |
