Quality Of Democracy In Kenya Analysis
Assessing the quality of democracy in Kenya
Introduction
Once upon a time, there were Western countries and their African colonies. Colonization began at the end of XIX century, and apparently lasted until around 1960. In those years, thanks to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill’s signing of the Atlantic Charter (1941), that assured the right to self-determination, one country at a time began to revolt against their colonizers, and declare independence. As a matter of principle, these revolutions were intended to free African countries from Western subjugation, as well as from grinding poverty. However, these states claimed their liberties without having found proper measures against the legacy of exploitation, deprivation, and famine …show more content…
Yet, what exactly are they? To illustrate, all the indicators that allow political scientists to evaluate a state’s democracy from a qualitative point of view assess the quality of democracy. Specifically, it is measured through eight basic dimensions: rule of law, participation, competition, horizontal and vertical accountability, respect for civil and political freedom, progressive implementation of greater political equality, and responsiveness. (Morlino, L., & Diamond, L., 2004, p. 4-29). Besides, state’s legitimacy, which is people’s acceptance of the state’s authority that has established a regime, is strongly connected to the quality of democracy. In other words, it is the degree of state’s validity, and it is evaluated on three aspects. The first aspect is about how the state functions, namely the-decision making and democratic processes. The second one concerns what the state does, namely its capability to provide services. The last one deals with people’s beliefs, namely people’s perception of community and identity, but also how they perceive intern-social differences (Sundet, G., & Moen, 2009, p.
Introduction
Once upon a time, there were Western countries and their African colonies. Colonization began at the end of XIX century, and apparently lasted until around 1960. In those years, thanks to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill’s signing of the Atlantic Charter (1941), that assured the right to self-determination, one country at a time began to revolt against their colonizers, and declare independence. As a matter of principle, these revolutions were intended to free African countries from Western subjugation, as well as from grinding poverty. However, these states claimed their liberties without having found proper measures against the legacy of exploitation, deprivation, and famine …show more content…
Yet, what exactly are they? To illustrate, all the indicators that allow political scientists to evaluate a state’s democracy from a qualitative point of view assess the quality of democracy. Specifically, it is measured through eight basic dimensions: rule of law, participation, competition, horizontal and vertical accountability, respect for civil and political freedom, progressive implementation of greater political equality, and responsiveness. (Morlino, L., & Diamond, L., 2004, p. 4-29). Besides, state’s legitimacy, which is people’s acceptance of the state’s authority that has established a regime, is strongly connected to the quality of democracy. In other words, it is the degree of state’s validity, and it is evaluated on three aspects. The first aspect is about how the state functions, namely the-decision making and democratic processes. The second one concerns what the state does, namely its capability to provide services. The last one deals with people’s beliefs, namely people’s perception of community and identity, but also how they perceive intern-social differences (Sundet, G., & Moen, 2009, p.