1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910495873303321

Autore

Widner Jennifer A.

Titolo

The Rise of a Party-State in Kenya : From Harambee! to Nyayo! / / Jennifer A. Widner

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, California : , : University of California Press, , [1992]

©1992

ISBN

0-520-91185-7

0-585-27479-7

Edizione

[First edition.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xix, 283 p. ) : maps ;

Disciplina

967.6204

Soggetti

Kenya Politics and government 1978-2002

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Maps and Tables -- Acknowledgments -- Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Foreign Terms -- Abbreviated Chronology of Events -- CHAPTER ONE. Creating Political Order -- CHAPTER TWO. Single-Party Dominance, 1964-1969 -- CHAPTER THREE. The Struggle in the Rift Valley, 1970-1975 -- CHAPTER FOUR. The Transition Period, 1976-1980 -- CHAPTER FIVE. From "Harambee!" to "Nyayo!" 1980-1985 -- CHAPTER SIX. Party, State, and Civil Society, 1985-1990 -- CHAPTER SEVEN. The Kenyan Party-State in Comparative Perspective -- Appendix: The Uses of Evidence -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Although Kenya is often considered an African success story, its political climate became increasingly repressive under its second president, Daniel arap Moi. Widner charts the transformation of the Kenya African National Union (KANU) from a weak, loosely organized political party under Jomo Kenyatta into an arm of the president's office, with "watchdog" youth wings and strong surveillance and control functions, under Moi. She suggests that single-party systems have an inherent tendency to become "party-states," or single-party regimes in which the head of state uses the party as a means of control. The speed and extent of these changes depend on the countervailing power of independent interest groups, such as business associations, farmers, or professionals. Widner's study offers important insights into the



dynamics of party systems in Africa.