This book is authored by some of the renowned scholars in Africa who take on the task to understand how Kenya is governed in this century from a public policy perspective. The book's public policy approach addresses three general and pertinent questions: (1) how are policies made in a political context where change is called for, but institutional legacies tend to stand in the way? (2) how are power and authority shared among institutional actors in government and society? and, (3) how effective is policymaking at a time when policy problems are becoming increasingly complex and involving multiple stakeholders in Africa? This book provides an updated and relevant foundation for teaching policy, politics and administration in Kenya. It is also a useful guide for politicians, the civil society, and businesses with an interest in how Kenya is governed. Furthermore, it addresses issues of comparability: how does the Kenyan case fit into a wider African context of policymaking?

'This volume is a major contribution to comparative policy analysis by focusing on the policy processes in Kenya, a country undergoing modernization of its economic and political institutions. Written by experts with a keen eye for the commonalities and differences the country shares with other nations, it covers a range of topics like the role of experts and politicians in policymaking, the nature of public accountability, the impact of social media on policy actors, and the challenges of teaching policy studies in the country. As a first comprehensive study of an African nation, Governing Kenya will remain a key text for years to come'.

-Michael Howlett, Burnaby Mountain Chair of Political Science, Simon Fraser University, Canada

'A superb example of development scholarship which sets aside 'best practice' nostrums and focuses on governance challenges specific to time and place while holding on to a comparative perspective. Useful to scholars and practitioners not only in Kenya but across developing areas. I strongly recommend it!'

-Brian Levy teaches at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, USA, and the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

'This book is an exploration of important deliberations - of interest for those of us interested in deepening the understanding of public policy theories and their application within a specific African setting'.

-Wilson Muna, Lecturer of Public Policy, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya

'This collection of think pieces on public policy in Kenya gives the reader theoretical and practical hooks critical to the analysis of the implementation of the sovereign policy document in Kenya, the 2010 Constitution'.

-Willy Mutunga, Chief Justice & President of the Supreme Court, Republic of Kenya, 2011-2016

'Governing Kenya provides acomprehensive analysis of public policymaking in Kenya. The book integrates public policy theory with extensive empirical examples to provide a valuable portrait of the political and economic influences on policy choices in this important African country. The editors have brought together a group of significant scholars to produce an invaluable contribution to the literature on public policy in Africa'.

-B. Guy Peters, Maurice Folk Professor of American Government, University of Pittsburgh, USA

About the Author
Gedion Onyango is Lecturer in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. He has a B.A. degree (First Class) in Social Sciences from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, MPhil. Public Administration from the University of Bergen, Norway, and a PhD. in Public Administration from the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. He is an Associate Editor and Board Member for SN Business & Economics Journal (Springer) and Editorial Board Member for the Journal on Financing for Development (University of Nairobi). His papers have been published in leading journals in Public Administration including International Journal of Public Administration, Public Organization Review, International Public Management Journal and Economic and Political Studies. He has also authored book chapters in both published and forthcoming monographs, among others, "Policy Visibility and Implementation in Public Administration", in Ali Farazmand (ed.), Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance, Springer Publishing 2019. Gedion has also been consulted by different organizations, including Transparency International.

Goran Hyden is Distinguished Professor Emeritus in Political Science at the University of Florida, United States. After receiving his Ph.D. from Lund University, Sweden, he began his political science and public administration career in the now defunct University of East Africa: Makerere (1965-66), Nairobi (1968-71) and Dar es Salaam (1971-77). Before joining the University of Florida in 1986, he served as Social Science Advisor and Representative in the Nairobi-based Ford Foundation's Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Africa, 1978-85.He co-edited his first book (with Robert H. Jackson and John J. Okumu) in 1970 titled Development Administration: The Kenyan Experience. He has authored over twenty books of his own, e.g. Beyond Ujamaa in Tanzania (1980), No Shortcuts to Progress (1983) and African Politics in Comparative Perspective (2006). He served as President of the U.S. African Studies Association 1995 and received its Distinguished Africanist Award in 2015. He has also been Chairman of the Board of the Dag Hammarskjold Foundation, Uppsala, Sweden and the African Centre for Technology Studies, Nairobi.



Book Information
ISBN 9783030617868
Author Gedion Onyango
Format Paperback
Page Count 323
Imprint Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Publisher Springer Nature Switzerland AG