| dc.description.abstract | Since the end of the Cold War, international politics have taken on ideals of liberalism on
argument that participatory governance supports domestic and international peace. The
expansion of liberal markets and politics has been fronted by powerful states and
international organisations as the most preferred state systems. In Africa, which only got
integrated into the World economy and political arena just over half a century ago, the task of
state-building and adopting international systems has proved challenging prompting
development partners to provide assistance and use their leverage to influence the liberalist
trajectory. Economic liberalisation preceded democracy and albeit the challenges
encountered, political liberalization has also posed challenges in democratizing states. Kenya
as the focus of this study has oscillated from a democracy to an autocracy before resuming on
the liberal trend. This process has been moved by both domestic and international actors with
the latter playing a political as well as financial role. Kenya‟s democratization experience has
faced challenges including instability occasioned by election-related conflicts. This study will
look into the details of Kenya‟s democratic trajectory, exploring the extent to which
international actors influence the trajectory and the outcomes of democratic processes. This
research finds that Kenya has fully transitioned into a functional democracy and all actors are
recommended to continue working on consolidating the gains achieved so far while further
entrenching democratic ideals. | en_US |
