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Participation, Development, and Accountability: A Survey Experiment on Democratic Decision-Making in Kenya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2023

MICHAEL TOUCHTON Open the ORCID record for MICHAEL TOUCHTON [Opens in a new window]  and
BRIAN WAMPLER Open the ORCID record for BRIAN WAMPLER [Opens in a new window]
MICHAEL TOUCHTON*
Affiliation:
University of Miami, United States
BRIAN WAMPLER*
Affiliation:
Boise State University, United States
*
Michael Touchton, Associate Professor of Political Science, Faculty Lead for Global Health, Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas, University of Miami, United States, miketouchton@miami.edu.
Brian Wampler, President’s Professor of Public Scholarship and Engagement, Office of the President, Boise State University, United States, bwampler@boisestate.edu.
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Abstract

Many governments in semi-democratic regimes have adopted participatory democratic institutions to promote development and accountability. But limited resources, weak civil society, and a history of authoritarian politics make building subnational democratic institutions daunting. Do participatory institutions expand accountability in these environments? We address this question by evaluating citizen decision-making in Kenya’s local participatory processes. We first administered a survey experiment surrounding citizens’ development policy preferences to 9,928 respondents in four Kenyan counties. We then nest this survey experiment in participant observation and over 80 elite interviews. Our conclusions are mixed: respondents readily change their policy preferences to align with the government’s policy actions, which suggests limited prospects for accountability. However, respondents use participatory budgeting venues to question government officials about missing projects, which provides a potential foundation for accountability. Yet, uncompetitive local elections, the absence of independent civil society’s participation, and new program rules are likely to limit democratic accountability.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 117 , Issue 4 , November 2023 , pp. 1379 - 1394
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Political Science Association

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