• Overview, Historical Background of Political System and Constitutional Developments in Kenya Constitutional Developments in Kenya • The Structure of Government in Kenya, the Role of the Executive, Legislature, Judiciary and the Relationship between the National and County Governments • The Role of Political Parties, the Electoral Process and the Challenges of Conducting Free and Fair Elections in Kenya • Understanding the Concept of Corruption, the Impact of Corruption on Governance in Kenya and Anti-Corruption Efforts and Their Effectiveness • Overview, the Benefits, Challenges of Devolution and the Role of County Governments in Service Delivery • The Role of Ethnicity in Kenyan Politics, the Impact of Identity Politics on National Unity and Strategies for Promoting Unity and Cohesion in A Diverse Society • The Status, the Role of Civil Society in Promoting Human Rights and the Challenges of Democratic Consolidation in Kenya • The Role of the Media in Kenyan Politics, the Challenges of Media Freedom and Independence and the Impact of Social Media on Politics in Kenya

Kenya is one of the most politically dynamic and influential countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Today, it is known in equal measure as a country that has experienced great highs and tragic lows. In the 1960s and 1970s, Kenya was seen as a ''success story" of development in the periphery, and also led the way in terms of democratic breakthroughs in 2010 when a new constitution devolved power and placed new constraints on the president. However, the country has also made international headlines for the kind of political instability that occurs when electoral violence is expressed along ethnic lines, such as during the "Kenya crisis" of 2007/08 when over 1,000 people lost their lives and almost 700,000 were displaced. The Oxford Handbook of Kenyan Politics explains these developments and many more, drawing together 50 specially commissioned chapters by leading researchers. The chapters they have contributed address a range of essential topics including the legacy of colonial rule, ethnicity, land politics, devolution, the constitution, elections, democracy, foreign aid, the informal economy, civil society, human rights, the International Criminal Court, the growing influence of China, economic policy, electoral violence, and the impact of mobile phone technology. In addition to covering some of the most important debates about Kenyan politics, the volume provides an insightful overview of Kenyan history from 1930 to the present day and features a set of chapters that review the impact of devolution on regional politics in every part of the country.

The book represents a major examination regarding the current practice of international relations and world politics. It analyzes the international relations of large, medium, and smaller sized actors, and how they influence the larger dynamics and ebb and flow of the international system. While assessing the perspectives of 21st century international systems, it also examines how relations between actors may improve or worsen, surely the most timely issue presently facing global and relational politics. Through globalization, the concept of a more balanced version of the American Dream has extended worldwide. Irrespective of wealth or poverty, globalization’s promise of prosperity has been adopted eagerly, despite uneven progress along the way. Together with the larger realities of Neo-Liberal thinking and influence, where global and cyber markets have evolved with little supervision, we have seen a move from enlightened self interest to the reality of pure self-interest. This book addresses the larger ethical implications of this global trend.

This book analyzes how the politics of national identity and incompletely realized nation-states influence conflict between states within the international system. Employing quantitative analysis and case studies, the book makes the case for an understanding of regional security politics that transcends traditional realist and liberal scholarship.

At a time when states are reactive, at best, to the global ecological crisis and when economic globalization seems to be significantly contributing to the acceleration of that crisis, environmental non-governmental orgainisations (NGOs) are proliferating. This book explains the key role of NGOs in an emerging world environmental politics, showing how NGOs act both as independent bargainers and as agents of social learning, to link biophysical conditions to the political realm at both the local and global levels. Throught the use of case studies the authors reveal the richness and diversity of NGO activity and the dificulty of the choices facing decision-makers in their attempts to protect the environment, seek new forms of governance and foster social environmental learning. The book generates questions that are central, not only to an understanding of NGO relations, but to the study of international environmental politics. Environmental NOGs in World Politics will be of great interest to upper level student sand scholars of both environmental politics and international relations. It will also appeal to environmental-policy professionals.

This volume sheds new light on the refugees and forced migration at the Horn of Africa and East Africa. Adopting a multidisciplinary perspective, it traces historical, structural, and geopolitical factors to reveal the often brutal uprooting of people in a region that hosts more than three million refugees and almost six million internally displaced persons (IDPs). By doing so, it enriches our understanding of the socio-economic, geopolitical and humanitarian causes and implications of migration and population displacement. The book is divided into five parts, focusing on different drivers of involuntary displacement and people’s uprooting: The first part covers geopolitical conflicts rooted partly in the colonial and Cold War geographies. The second part then focuses on security aspects and conflicts, while the third looks at encampment and refugee policies as well as refugee agencies. Part four highlights issues of forced repatriation and human trafficking. Lastly, part five analyzes the dynamics of refugee camps.

This book explores the nature of, and conditions for, theoretical innovation in international studies.

Comparing Germany’s and Brazil’s government perspectives, Sybille Roehrkasten reveals that the ideas on global renewable energy governance are highly contested. In her study, the author sheds light on the politics behind the definition of global governance issues, focusing on two pioneers in the worldwide promotion of renewables and two decisive players in this emergent area of global cooperation. She demonstrates that ideas about problems and solutions in transboundary policy-making differ widely and that these differences are caused by the decision makers’ policy contexts and self-interests. The differences concern key aspects in global governance on renewables, such as global challenges to be addressed, favored renewables options, barriers to renewables promotion and tasks for cooperation.

Africa represents the next frontier of the transnational politics of democratization. Recent efforts to promote human rights and democracy have yielded a mixed record of success. A comparison of regime change in Kenya and Uganda reveals how principled interventions have unintentional adverse effects on the democratic reform process.

Scholars of distributive politics often emphasize partisanship and clientelism. However, as Jennifer Bussell demonstrates in Clients and Constituents, legislators in "patronage democracies" also provide substantial constituency service: non-contingent, direct assistance to individual citizens. Bussell shows how the uneven character of access to services at the local level-often due to biased allocation on the part of local intermediaries-generates demand for help from higher-level officials. The nature of these appeals in turn provides incentives for politicians to help their constituents obtain public benefits. Drawing on a new cross-national dataset and extensive evidence from India-including sustained qualitative shadowing of politicians, novel elite and citizen surveys, and an experimental audit study with a near census of Indian state and national legislators-this book provides a theoretical and empirical examination of political responsiveness in developing countries. It highlights the potential for an under-appreciated form of democratic accountability, one that is however rooted in the character of patronage-based politics.