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Citizenship and Ethnicity: An Examination of Two Transition Moments in Kenyan Politics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

Stephen N. Ndegwa
Stephen N. Ndegwa*
Affiliation:
The College of Williamand Mary
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Abstract

In some African countries, democratic openings have intensified ethnic competition and led to protracted transitions or outright conflict. In Kenya, I argue, the stalled transition reflects the effects of republican citizenship in ethnic political communities and liberal citizenship in the national political community. This duality in citizenship engenders conflict over democracy—conceived as liberal majoritarian democracy—and results in ethnic coalitions disagreeing over which institutions are appropriate for a multiethnic state. I provide evidence from discourses over institutions from two transition periods in Kenya: at independence and in the recent shift from one-party rule. This study makes two contributions. First, it adds to current citizenship theory, which is largely derived from Western experience, by demonstrating that republican and liberal citizenships are not necessarily compatible and that the modern nation-state is not the only relevant community for forming citizens. Second, it adds to studies of African transitions by highlighting citizenship issues in institutional design with regard to ethnicity in Kenya.

Type
Articles
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 91 , Issue 3 , September 1997 , pp. 599 - 616
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1997

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