The Oxford Handbook of Kenyan Politics Oxford Handbooks Series

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.

Nic Cheeseman is Professor of Democracy, University of Birmingham and the former Director of the African Studies Centre, Oxford University. He mainly works on democracy, elections, and development and has conducted fieldwork in a range of African countries. His articles have won a number of prizes including the GIGA award for the best article in Comparative Area Studies (2013) and the Frank Cass Award for the best article in Democratization (2015). He is also the author or editor of ten books. He is the founding editor of the Oxford Encyclopaedia of African Politics, and an advisor and writer for Kofi Annan's African Progress Panel. In recognition of this academic and public contribution, the Political Studies Association of the UK awarded him the prestigious Joni Lovenduski Prize for outstanding professional achievement by a midcareer scholar in 2019. His analysis has appeared in The Economist, Le Monde, NY Times, and BBC, amongst others. Gabrielle Lynch is Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Warwick. Her research on Kenya has focused on ethnic identity and politics, elections and democratisation, and transitional justice. She is the author or co-editor of several books and more than 30 articles and book chapters. She is deputy chair of the Review of African Political Economy editorial working group, a member of Democratization's editorial board and Vice-President/Research of the British Institute of Eastern Africa. Gabrielle wrote a twice monthly column for the Saturday Nation (the Saturday edition of Kenya's leading national newspaper) from April 2014 to March 2018 when she stood down alongside 7 other independent columnists in protest at "the loss of editorial independence and media freedom" at the Nation Media Group. From November 2015 to January 2017 she also wrote a twice monthly column for The East African (the main regional newspaper). Karuti Kanyinga is Research Professor of Development Studies, University of Nairobi where he is the cur