Multiparty Politics Research Articles

The Church and Violence During Multiparty Elections in Kenya from 1992 to 2017

Violence fastened with the passion of religion predominantly continues cloaking the world at an alarming rate because violence does not only belong to everyone but it is also at the heart of the consecrated. It is no surprise therefore that violence in Kenya recurs virtually during every election resulting into polarization and tensions along religious and ethnic affiliations or both. The purpose of this paper was to examine the relationship between the Church and violence during multiparty politics in Kenya. This paper analyzed the role the church played in specific violent events during multiparty politics since 1992 up to 2017 in Kenya. In this regard the study responded to the question; what was the role of the church in the violent events during elections in multiparty politics since 1992 in Kenya? To answer this question the study investigated the role of the church in the specific violence which occurred during elections in 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007, 2013 and 2017 election years in Kenya inferring that their roles influenced the occurrence of violence from time to time. The study was conducted through qualitative research method using historical research designs. The study established that the churches in Kenya played various roles in the violence; some of the churches kept quiet as violence flourished in their areas of jurisdiction because they conceived it as punitive and ungodly and in that way, they were in coordinated efforts; while some other churches condoned and extenuated circumstances that led to violent acts because they had a passive attitude towards the government authority having been part and parcel of it in calling for social changes; whereas some churches were not only complicit but endorsed and exhorted violence particularly by blessing youth warriors before going to fight in ethnic violence, believing that it was their religious duty to extirpate injustices and subdue evil in the sinful world using strategic acts of violence as necessary means of deterring large acts of violence and that they had the divine authority to legitimize violence so as to uproot the political evils bedeviling Kenya. In view of all these, the study concluded that the churches were metaphysically, morally, politically and criminally culpable for the violence during multiparty politics in Kenya. Consequently the study maintains that the church in Kenya, like it is with religion in general, is intrinsically violent in the version of a raging cosmic battle between “order” and “disorder” akin to the cosmic war theory as advanced by Mark Juergensmeyer. Often it is the boundary between ‘this world’ and the ‘other world’ that is blurred by church during electioneering period so that the supposedly cosmic battle becomes a real war when people shed real blood and die. The study recommends that it is important to understand the dynamics of the roles played in violence by other religious organization in multi religious nations like Kenya. The degree to which other faiths influence political views in Kenya with regard to election violence is critical. The issue of how the church can mitigate against the cyclic political violence in Kenya kept on evocating in the study. It is important to understand the remedies that the church can put in place to alleviate violence during elections in Kenya.

Hegemonic Party System and Federalism

The paper inquiries into the fixture of the hegemonic Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Party (EPRDF) in the operation of the Ethiopian federal constitutional order. It finds out the federal malfunction of EPRDF. The hegemonic political program of the front, which took the shape of a non-competitive dominant party was not in line with the constitutional diversity of the federal system, as it delinked the constitutional right to self-determination and federal autonomy from the options of multiparty politics. On the structure of EPRDF, equal representation was favorable to the federal politics of diversity accommodation and minority protection. However, the exclusiveness of its structure from the “affiliate” parties had the effects of a narrow-based federal shared-rule, as EPRDF which was the only channel to influence the center. Party-state inseparability was the other gap to the check of power and in establishing the neutrality of the state to deal with ethnic-driven conflict, as a major pathology to the stability of ethnic federal systems. Finally, the power nucleus in the EPRDF created the dominance of TPLF at the perils of diminishing the representative legitimacy and the subordinate position of the “affiliate parties” to EPRDF.

The Political Economy of Academic Freedom

Abstract This paper surveys the empirical literature on causes and consequences of academic freedom that has grown up since the release of new data in 2020. The literature suggests that democracy and multi-party politics contribute to more academic freedom. However, declines in academic freedom may predict autocratisation. In addition, the literature shows that academic freedom contributes to better research, innovation and productivity growth.

How the Past Has Stalled Democratization in Zanzibar

Zanzibar, a self-governing state of Tanzania, may look like a tranquil tropical archipelago. But in the 60 years since a revolution overthrew a sultanate with origins in Oman, its politics have been turbulent. Revolutionary doctrines of socialism and one-party rule led to repression that lasted for years. Far from bringing stability, the introduction of multiparty politics in the 1990s has led to cycles of electoral violence and failed reconciliation talks. The legacies of the 1964 revolution continue to define the deeply polarized political landscape, even as demographic shifts and foreign investment transform the islands.

Local champions and change of governments: a longitudinal analysis of firms’ political ties in Gaziantep, Turkey

Abstract This article examines business–politics ties during a shift from multi-party politics to competitive-authoritarian rule in Turkey. We conducted a longitudinal investigation of the political ties and performance ranking of top manufacturing firms in a provincial industrial centre, Gaziantep. The analysis demonstrates that major power transitions in centre politics elicited variegated local responses and intra-group contestations. The leading business elites sustained political capital through a multi-scalar diversification of political ties. Using an agent, network, and institutions framework, we highlight the political dynamics behind sub-national growth trajectories, and contribute to scholarship on urban party politics and elite localism in economic geography.

Issue-Based Politics in Kenya: Assessing the Underlying Factors, Progress Made, and Barriers

Over the last three decades, Kenya’s democratization journey has been marked by significant progress evidenced by the adoption of multiparty politics, new constitution promulgation in 2010, and institutionalization of key reforms in government and civil space. This formed a strong foundation for the entrenchment of issue-based politics as envisioned in Kenya Vision 2030’s Political Pillar that advocates for “a democratic political system that is issue-based, people-centered, result oriented and accountable to the public and viable political party systems guided by policy and ideological differences rather than region or ethnicity.” However, a litany of underlying issues and factors –have to a greater extent –been the cause of political violence majorly ethnic driven and thus dimming the prospects of transition of the country to issue-based politics away from ethnic-centered politics. This paper aims to discuss the underlying issues and triggers of political violence in Kenya, take stoke of progress made, and barriers in the advancement of issue-based politics. This study is premised on secondary data in form of journal articles, newspapers, occasional papers, online websites, and policy documents. Findings reveal that 1) Underlying issues and triggers of political violence include and are not limited to the multi-ethnic nature of Kenyan society, historical land injustices, political and socio-economic inequalities, politics of betrayal, revenge and hate speech 2) Kenya has made strides in actualizing issued based democracy through promotion of national parties anchored on ideologies, development of manifestos by various political parties, presidential debates by prospective candidates, undertaking civic voter education, conducting issue-based campaigns. 3) However, prevalence of misinformation, disinformation and propaganda, bribes, populism, poor governance and corruption, lack of political goodwill, seems to erode gains made in advancing issue-based politics. If Kenya promotes and natures a culture of issue-based politics then it will strengthen its democratic credentials.

Electoral Conflicts in Cameroon: Causes, Consequences and Remedies

The advent of multiparty politics in Cameroon in the 1990s meant the acquisition of state power was to be achieved through competition, this saw the creation of political parties, birthing a pluralist democracy and shifting the paradigm of partisan politics from the one-party system to a multiparty dynamic. Elections were thus the only means through which these parties had to compete for state power, although it instilled hope in many, this phenomenon was accompanied by much more worrying issues in the name of electoral conflicts. From 1990 till present, elections in Cameroon have always been marred by conflicts. This paper examines the causes and impact of these conflicts on Cameroonians and proposes remedies to optimise the electoral landscape.

Powerless? Gender Regimes and Women’s Place in Uganda’s Political Parties

Multiparty politics in Uganda in some ways opened the political space for women and also reinforced the patriarchal nature of parliamentary and electoral politics. Women are increasingly used as appendages and tools to further the political dominance of the ruling government. So, while they seem to be visible, their voices and substantive representation is controlled by the parties’ executive wings. This paper identifies and describes the gender regimes of Ugandan political parties, showing how women are systematically alienated by party politics. The analysis of party constitutions and structures revealed antipathy towards gender equality demonstrated in male dominance of top positions and positions of valuable portfolios, deputization of women and the use of women’s leagues to promote party agendas. Although women’s participation is supported legislatively, there is a need for women’s leagues to operate autonomously from the party.

Leaders and the Breakdown of Democracy in Turkey, 1973-1980

This article focuses on Turkey’s crisis-ridden years, from 1973 to 1980. As an under-explored era in English language scholarship, it makes a distinct contribution to the literature on pre-1980 coup Turkish politics. In doing so, it illustrates the implications for the democratic order arising from the two central political leaders of the era Süleyman Demirel and Bülent Ecevit’s tussle for power across the decade. The study draws on fieldwork interviews and critical reading of Turkish and English sources to reveal new insights into the leaders’ actions and decisions that trapped the country in a state of political paralysis, inflamed left-right violence, and politicized state institutions, ultimately dragging Turkey down one of its most turbulent periods. It illustrates how the leaders played crucial roles in shaping conditions that eventually resulted in the termination of multi-party politics with a military coup on 12 September 1980.

Brides in Rags! Conflict, Political Organization, Political Settlements and Uganda’s Transition to Multi-Party Politics Since 1986

Following a long-drawn-out five-year insurgency (1981‒1986), Uganda moved from a crisis to stability where political organizations were progressively transformed, albeit with institutionalized roadblocks. The former insurgent army – the National Resistance Army (NRA) and its political wing the National Resistance Movement (NRM) pursued a post-conflict transformation process, which was essentially driven by neo-liberal reforms, but metamorphosed into a dominant political party, undermining the hither to traditional political parties. Through historical interrogation, this paper seeks to bring to the fore reflections to the questions; “Why did the post war-NRA/NRM undertake a rapid shift in political ordering after the guerrilla war in 1986? Why did the new government pursue a pseudo neo-liberal agenda that sought free-market style policies and nested democratization after the guerrilla war?” These preliminary questions are asked for two fundamental reasons. One; it is common knowledge that in the early 1970s Museveni –The NRA warlord was a Marxist–Leninist and therefore in hot pursuit for socialism as a mode of statecraft. However, he became less of a socialist particularly at the end of his rebellion. Why? Secondly, post-war state-building theory, presupposes that after rebels have captured power following a civil war, their propensity to pursue liberal free-market type of politics is habitually low. Why then did NRA/NRM with extremely negative views for free-market style of politics undertake to institute multi-party politics? What political settlements did NRM pursue and how have they been institutionalized and instrumentalized overtime? What have been the attendant effects of these settlements in Uganda and how can these impacts be profiled in light of other war-to peace states in Africa?

Exploring Nigeria’s Public Projects Prospects for the Good of Nigerians

Public projects that should facilitate wellbeing of Nigerians have suffered setbacks and not been able to do so. This study is a descriptive type and discussed the forces of projects failure, intrigues of public officers that subvert project outcomes, the expected roles of state actors in project pursuits, and prospects for public projects in Nigeria. The study found that paucity of funds, policy summersault, and inflation of projects costs, poor delivery of projects or outright abandonment by contractors, attitudes of the ruling regime, its successor and beneficiaries are some of the forces that obstruct public projects. The study also found that corruption, use of direct labor, connivance; party politics, poor focus and maintenance, personalization of public project, misplaced priority are some of the intrigues of project initiators that subvert project outcomes in Nigeria. The study also found that numerous skilled bureaucrats, due process, procurement system, and supremacy of the constitution, multi-party politics, and the presidential system of government with democratic system that Nigeria practices are some of the opportunities open to the country on its public projects fortune. This study made use of secondary data that was sourced from journal articles, online materials, government gazettes, policy documents, and other publications. The data was content analyzed thematically. The study concluded that members of the public need to make attainable gains from numerous public project opportunities. Keywords: project initiator, opportunities, public projects, masses, wellbeing of Nigerians DOI: 10.7176/PPAR/13-3-01 Publication date: April 30 th 2023

The historical roots of right-wing populism in Turkey: a spatial examination of the DP, ANAP, and AKP governments

ABSTRACT This article aims to explore the continuities and changes in Turkish political history by examining three predominant, populist right-wing political parties in Turkish multi-party politics: Democrat Party (DP), Motherland Party (ANAP), and Justice and Development Party (AKP). The article utilizes correlative and spatial analyzes to juxtapose these three cases to find out path dependencies and critical junctures in Turkish political history. The commonalities in these cases are the clear linkages of incumbent party support with the nature of party competition, initial mobilization of the masses in the earlier tenures of these political parties, and high spatial correlation in electoral outcomes. However, there are also differences among the DP, ANAP, and AKP governments correlatively and spatially. The article intends to contribute to the existing literature on Turkish politics, especially through the lenses of party politics and democratization.

The Discourse of National Will During Turkey’s Transition to a Multi-Party Political System and the 1946 General Elections

Çok partili siyasal sisteme geçiş sürecinde 1946 genel seçimleri, Türk siyasal yaşamındaki önemli eşiklerden biri olmuştur. İlk kez “tek dereceli” ve “çok partili” olarak yapılan 1946 seçimleri öncesinin incelenmesi siyasal yaşama dair önemli noktalar içermektedir. Seçime giden süreçte dönemin en etkin figürü Cumhurbaşkanı İsmet İnönü’nün çıktığı yurt gezilerinde, yaptığı konuşmalarda, verdiği demeçlerde ve gazetelere yansıyan yazılarda kuvvetli bir sandığa gitme çağrısı hakim olmuştur. Vatandaşa bir “seçmen” olduğunu hatırlatan, “demokrasi”ye, “milli irade”ye giden yolun “sandık”tan geçtiğini, oy vermenin “milli bir görev, kutsal bir borç” olduğunu vurgulayan bu çağrılarda “milli irade”, “seçim” ve “oy çokluğu” birlikteliğine olan vurgu güçlüdür. Vatandaş seçmen olarak büyük bir önem kazanırken, milli irade Meclis ile demokrasi sandık ile özdeşleştirilmiştir. Yapılan bu çalışmada, 1946 genel seçimleri öncesi İsmet İnönü, CHP yöneticileri ve basın tarafından vatandaşlara yapılan seçimlere katılım çağrısının ve bu yöndeki propagandanın “milli irade” söylemiyle ilişkisi ele alınacaktır. Seçim çağrılarına ve seçim sonrası zafer konuşmalarına yansıyan, Türk siyasal yaşamının baskın bir tonu olan “milli irade” söyleminin ilk izlerine işaret edilecektir. Çalışmada, 1946 seçimleri öncesinde başta İsmet İnönü’nün seçim öncesi demeçleri olmak üzere dönemin gazeteleri (Ulus, Akşam, Vakit, Cumhuriyet) taranarak analiz edilmiştir.

Determinants of Peaceful Cross-Border Co-Existence between the Maasai and the Gusii in Kenya: A Historical Perspective, 1890-2002

The re-introduction of multi-party politics in Kenya in the early 1990s contributed to inter-ethnic violence and clashes. These clashes have preoccupied Kenyan scholars for a long time and, as a result, have created the wrong perception that politics is the main historical determinant of ethnic cross-border relations between Kenyan ethnic communities. Ethnic clashes and conflicts have predated politically instigated ethnic clashes in Kenya. By relying on archival, oral, and secondary data, this study examined other historical determinants of cross-border ethnic relations between the Maasai and the Gusii.

Armed and dangerous: Legacies of incumbent-military ties and electoral violence in Africa

While a growing literature explores the danger that authoritarian military legacies pose for regime break-down, there is little research on the effects of similar legacies in the context of multiparty politics. This is an important gap in the literature since in many cases the introduction of formal democratic institutions has led to neither democratic consolidation nor regime breakdown. We start exploring this lacuna by developing a theory that links the use of violent electoral tactics to the ties of the executive with the authoritarian era's military. We argue that incumbents with close ties to the authoritarian regime's military are more likely to instigate election violence. Empirical tests on a sample of 230 elections in 39 African countries since 1974 show that election violence is more prevalent in countries where such ties exist. These findings speak to several areas of study, including those on election violence, and on military legacies.

On the History of the Restoration of a Multi-Party Political System in Kenya

On the eve of the declaration of independence in 1963, the specifics of the alignment of political forces in Kenya consisted in the struggle for future power between two large nationalist unions – Kenya African National Union (KANU) and Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU). The outcome of this struggle brought victory to KANU and largely determined the vector of the future political history of this country. Under its first President, Jomo Kenyatta (and Chairman of KANU), multiparty Kenya became a de facto one-party state after KADU was dissolved in 1964 and the activities of the opposition Kenya People Union (was emerged in 1965) was banned in 1966. Kenya became officially the one-party state under Kenyatta’s successor D. аrap Moi in 1982. In the process of further establishing the authoritarian regime, he used KANU to extend state-party control to all forms of socio-political life of the country (parliament, judiciary, trade unions, public organizations, etc.). The main guarantor of ensuring order was repressive measures against any forms of dissidence. After the adoption in 1991 of the amendment to the Constitution on the liberalization of the political system, Moi managed to remain as president twice more (after the 1991 and 1997 elections), thanks to the disunity of the opposition represented by parties created on ethnic grounds. Only in 2002, the opposition managed to create a multi-ethnic short-term alliance National Rainbow Coalition led by M. Kibaki. As a result, the first president was elected in Kenya, who was not a member of the party that had been in power for 39 years before. It also put an end to the 24-year «Moi era», which was characterized by the flourishing of corruption, the crisis in the economy, political repression and tribal strife. But the same challenges, and the unresolved land issue among them, again led to the unrest during the next presidential campaign of 2007–2008. The culmination was the largest ethnopolitical crisis in the history of Kenya, which was stopped only thanks to the efforts of international mediators. In 2010 a new constitution was adopted, in which an attempt was made to reform the political system in order to prevent the aggravation of interethnic conflicts in the future during presidential election campaigns in multiparty Kenya. The purpose of the main provisions of the Constitution is to make politics more inclusive, to expand the participation of the population in decision-making, to overcome of the population distrust to their results of a presidential elections.

Zouglou Visions of Transitional Justice

ABSTRACT∞ This article argues that through Zouglou music, Ivorian youths have defined what it means to deliver justice in the wake of violence by positioning Zouglou and Zouglou-Nouchi “ways of being” as an inescapable means of political legitimation. Beginning with the turn from Houphouët’s single party rule to multiparty politics in 1990, to the 2002–2007 and 2010–2011 eras of violent conflict, Zouglou artists, themselves youths, have shaped the terms of democratic transition. They have crafted a space wherein to discuss the meanings of violent conflict and justice as well as opened possibilities for youths to shape what the Ivorian democratic future should be. In doing so, youths have prescribed new ways of political legitimation. As a result, in Côte d’Ivoire politicians do not only vie for the presidential seat but also engage with Zouglou and Zouglou-Nouchi “ways of being” to gain popular affection.

The Elusive Dream of Democracy, Security, and Well-Being in Mozambique

The 1992 peace accords ending a 16-year civil war, followed by the 1994 democratic elections, promised a brighter political and economic future for Mozambique. Despite the adoption of multiparty politics and robust economic growth since the 1990s, however, Mozambique today faces seemingly intractable challenges. Amid increasing allegations of electoral fraud, Frelimo continues to be the country’s ruling party, a position it assumed after independence in 1975. Political insiders control most of the country’s considerable economic assets, including vast natural gas deposits in the north. A violent jihadi insurgency, which began in the northern province of Cabo Delgado in 2017 and tapped into local grievances, has so far resisted the combined efforts of the national military, regional security forces, and a contingent of troops from Rwanda to eliminate it. With spaces for peaceful civic participation and action shrinking, the glimmer of hope for democracy, security, and well-being in Mozambique is fading.

Repression and Torture in Kenyan History: Some Theoretical Trajectories

The question of political repression and use of torture in contemporary punishment , in the most general sense of the terms, have increasingly become complex as criminologists, sociologists, psychologists, psychoanalysts, doctors, lawyers, and historians who have studied this subject extensively have often expressed very different and even contradictory opinions. However, torture was mostly used to either extract or force victims into confessing a crime - regardless of whether they were actually guilty or innocent. The Kenyan political past has been characterized with series of crackdowns and repression characterized by use of violence on political oppositionists. This however saw various political changes in the country leading to multi-party politics. The starting point for this paper involves a theoretical approach that links torture to institutional violence. This facilitates an understanding of its historicity and modernity which helps us grasp the historical construction of torture before it was defined and categorized as a crime. Before it became a tool for agitation and denunciation, a discourse capable of influencing the institutional agenda and off course what that gave it cultural and political significance.

Does the politics matter? Legal and political economy analysis of contracting decisions in Ghana’s upstream oil and gas industry

Abstract Ghana is often cited as one of Africa’s most stable democracies. Since 2004, the country has awarded 18 petroleum agreements to various international oil companies (IOCs) and their local partners to explore for hydrocarbons in its offshore basins. In 2010, Ghana became an oil-producing country following earlier commercial discoveries in 2007. Nevertheless, the likelihood of the Ghanaian State getting its fair share of petrodollar revenues primarily depends on its ability to negotiate good petroleum contracts and effectively regulate the industry. This article examines the legal and political economy factors that influence contract outcomes in Ghana’s oil and gas industry. It sheds light on how the inner workings of the political economy, especially in a competitive clientelist setup involving intense electoral competition between two dominant parties in an emerging oil-producing country, influence contractual outcomes—an area less explored in the literature. We find that the country's emerging oil and gas industry has become deeply intertwined with the pervasive, entrenched and clientelist multi-party politics of the day. As such, entrenched rentier social groups—business and political elites—have sometimes sabotaged institutional reform to create conditions that favour rent capture. This is evident, for example, in the award of oil and gas licensing and other supply chain contracts. Ghana’s post-1992 ‘winner takes all’ political mindset and the perceived big financial bonanzas the oil industry offers, resulted in suspicions of impropriety regarding the award of some oil acreages. We argue that if the laws were allowed to work, as they should in practice, Ghana’s oil and gas industry would be better regulated, and better outcomes would arise from the contracting process. Discretionary power should be limited as much as possible and, where granted, subject to a high level of scrutiny.