The Role of Intellectuals in Building Democratic Political Culture in Africa: a Case Study of Kenya

Abstract

Intellectuals in the past and present have been very instrumental in shaping the minds of the people. They have the capacity to root out some of the deep rooted cultures and norms in the society through critical thinking and re-shaping the way of a people by creating new norms. They have successful done this indifferent ways; policy making, public dialogue, active participation in political ventures among many others. In the fight for democratization of Africa, intellectuals have also taken up several roles; activism, reformists, advocacy and actual engagement in political matters. They do all this with the aim of improving people‟s welfare and promote human development. The general objective of this research project therefore was to determine the role of intellectuals in building democratic political culture in Africa using Kenya as case study. The specific objectives of the study were; to determine whether a democratic political culture will promote human development in Africa, to establish the role of intellectuals in building a democratic political culture in Africa and lastly to determine the challenges and prospects of building a democratic political culture in Kenya. The study was guide by the following objectives; democratic political culture in Africa will promote human development, intellectuals have a role to play in building Africa‟s democratic political culture and lastly there are no prospects to building democratic political culture in Kenya. The research project was based on liberalism theory which is embedded on the principles of majority rule, civil liberty and democracy. The study found out that the context in which the intellectual engage with the state and the society has changed with the passing of time and their roles in democratization have also evolved. New challenges and new prospects also present themselves as they try to build democratic political culture. On the citizen side, there is also no ownership of the process of democratization. The study recommends that modern day intellectuals create a theoretical framework that will help in Africanizing democracy to create ownership of the process and the democratic culture.