Faith-Based Organizations-State Relation and the Democratization Process in Kenya
Author(s)
Solomon Owuoche
Affiliation(s)
Department of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
Department of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
ABSTRACT
This article examines how Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs)-state relation
influences the democratization process in Kenya. Ideally, the state should be
in the forefront in nurturing the democratization process. However, evidence
suggests that the Kenyan state has for a long time appeared as an unwilling participant
in the democratization process. Instead, the Kenyan state has refused to let go
of the old system of governance associated with restricted political freedoms,
ethnic discrimination, human rights abuse and grand official corruption, among
others. It is the failure by the state to lead from the front that has created
an enabling environment for the participation of FBOs (an element of civil
society) in the democratization process. Ideally FBOs step in to act as a check
and balance against the excesses of the state. It is argued that FBOs-state
relation can be explained in terms of either cooperation or hostility. A major
argument is that the contribution of FBOs to the democratization process is
higher when the relationship between FBOs and the state is hostile. FBOs’
contribution to the democratization process is the lowest when the relationship
between FBOs and the state is cordial (cooperation).
Cite this paper
Owuoche, S. (2015) Faith-Based Organizations-State Relation and the Democratization Process in Kenya. Open Access Library Journal, 2, 1-11. doi: 10.4236/oalib.1101416.
Owuoche, S. (2015) Faith-Based Organizations-State Relation and the Democratization Process in Kenya. Open Access Library Journal, 2, 1-11. doi: 10.4236/oalib.1101416.
References
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http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2150402 [9] Throup, D. and Hornsby, C. (1995) Multiparty Politics in Kenya: The Kenyatta and Moi States and the Thriumph of the System in the 1992 Election. James Currey, Oxford. [10] Mamdani, M. (1995) A Critique of the State and Civil Society Paradigm in Africanist Studies. In: Mamdani, M. and Wamba-dia-Wamba, E., Eds., African Studies in Social Movements and Democracy, Codesria, Oxford, 602-616. [11] Machiavelli, N. (1952) The Prince. Mentor Books, New York. [12] Sibley, M. (1996) Political Ideas and Ideologies: A History of Political Thought. Surjeet Publishers, Delhi. [13] Kenya Elections Domestic Observation Forum (2008) The Kenya Elections 2007: Losses, Gains and Lessons. KEDOF, Nairobi. [14] Sunday Nation (2007) “Used and Dumped: That’s Civil Society”, by Makau Mutua. Sunday Nation, 15 April 2007. [15] Daily Nation (2006) “The Church Speaks” by Nation Reporter. Daily Nation, 23 September 2006. [16] The Muslim Minority Huge Challenges by Abdulkarim Mohamed Jimale, Freelance Journalist, Kenya.
www.onislam.net/english/politics/africa/427664.html [17] Daily Nation (2006) “CIPK/ SUPKEM Reacts” by Nation Reporter. Daily Nation, 9 January 2006. [18] Daily Nation (2009) Press Release Advertisement. Daily Nation, 19 March 2009.
[1] Kanyinga, K. (2015) Evolution of Kenya’s Civil Society. Sunday Nation, 1 March 2015. [2] Hegel, F. (1988) Introduction to the Philosophy of History: With an Appendix from the Philosophy of Rights. Hachett Pub. Co. Inc., New York. [3] Owuoche, S. (2011) Faith Based Organizations and the Institutionalization of Democracy in Kenya: A Case Study of the National Council of Churches of Kenya. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Nairobi. [4] Keane, J. (1988) Democracy and Civil Society. Verso, London. [5] Owuoche, S. (2010) The Church in the Struggle for Democracy in Kenya. Mvule Africa Publishers, Nairobi. [6] Diamonds, L. (1999) Developing Democracy: Towards Consolidation. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. [7] Filali-Ansary, A. (2003) Muslims and Democracy. In: Diamonds, L., Plattner, M.F. and Brumberg, D., Eds., Islam and Democracy in the Middle East, The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 28-46. [8] Huntington, S. (1984) Will More Countries be Democratic? Political Science Quarterly, 99, 193-218.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2150402 [9] Throup, D. and Hornsby, C. (1995) Multiparty Politics in Kenya: The Kenyatta and Moi States and the Thriumph of the System in the 1992 Election. James Currey, Oxford. [10] Mamdani, M. (1995) A Critique of the State and Civil Society Paradigm in Africanist Studies. In: Mamdani, M. and Wamba-dia-Wamba, E., Eds., African Studies in Social Movements and Democracy, Codesria, Oxford, 602-616. [11] Machiavelli, N. (1952) The Prince. Mentor Books, New York. [12] Sibley, M. (1996) Political Ideas and Ideologies: A History of Political Thought. Surjeet Publishers, Delhi. [13] Kenya Elections Domestic Observation Forum (2008) The Kenya Elections 2007: Losses, Gains and Lessons. KEDOF, Nairobi. [14] Sunday Nation (2007) “Used and Dumped: That’s Civil Society”, by Makau Mutua. Sunday Nation, 15 April 2007. [15] Daily Nation (2006) “The Church Speaks” by Nation Reporter. Daily Nation, 23 September 2006. [16] The Muslim Minority Huge Challenges by Abdulkarim Mohamed Jimale, Freelance Journalist, Kenya.
www.onislam.net/english/politics/africa/427664.html [17] Daily Nation (2006) “CIPK/ SUPKEM Reacts” by Nation Reporter. Daily Nation, 9 January 2006. [18] Daily Nation (2009) Press Release Advertisement. Daily Nation, 19 March 2009.