Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Ethnicity, Civic Participation, and Public Goods in Kenya

本项目通过研究肯尼亚几个不同议会选区之间选民发展基金(CDF)的管理差异，分析了发展中民主国家肯尼亚地方公共产品支出的决定因素。它关注的是当地的人口特征，如种族划分和公民参与公共生活，如何共同塑造政客们将特定社区作为公共工程项目目标的动机。原始调查研究和采访数据将考察这些社会特征在多大程度上导致政客们将某些群体的利益置于其他群体之上，以及政客们如何以与他们的政治目标一致的方式管理基金。在发展中国家，政府难以向公民提供基本服务，因此，这项研究有助于增长对民主治理效力的普遍认识。智力价值：最近关于族裔和公共产品的工作有助于澄清种族多样性对公共产品提供水平产生负面影响的机制。然而，这项研究往往侧重于多样性本身，而不是考察种族分歧的政治显着性。这种关注倾向于在真空中审查种族，与实际发生分配决定的政治机构和社会背景隔绝。通过批判性地研究民族认同如何与这些背景特征相互作用，本研究将提供发展中世界民主国家分配政治的更全面的图景。此外，通过系统地比较不同公民参与程度的选民，这项研究有助于对表明广泛的公民参与可以引起立法者更大的公共问责的理论进行测试。更广泛的影响：这项研究直接涉及非洲新民主国家表现的实际关切问题。了解族裔认同和民间社会的行为如何影响公共产品的提供，对于确保代议制治理和促进公平发展至关重要。这些信息将有助于急于扩大向更广泛人口群体提供公共产品的政策制定者。此外，研究人员将能够在肯尼亚的学术界、研究人员与之建立研究关系的大学以及美国的研讨会和会议上广泛分享研究结果。这一项目的调查数据也将同样公开。

This project analyzes the determinants of local public goods spending in a developing democracy, Kenya, by examining variation in the management of the country's Constituency Development Fund (CDF) between several different parliamentary constituencies. It focuses on how local demographic features like ethnic divisions and civic participation in public life jointly shape the incentives of politicians to target particular communities for public works projects. Original survey research and interview data will examine the extent to which these social features lead politicians to privilege the interests of certain groups over others, as well as how politicians manage the fund in ways that are consistent with their political goals. In so doing, this study contributes to the growth of generalizable knowledge about the efficacy of democratic governance in the developing world, where governments struggle to deliver basic services to their citizens.Intellectual Merit: Recent work on ethnicity and public goods has helped clarify the mechanisms by which ethnic diversity negatively impacts levels of public goods provision. However, this research too often focuses on diversity itself rather than examining the political salience of ethnic divisions. This focus tends to examine ethnicity in a vacuum, isolated from the political institutions and social contexts in which actual distributive decisions take place. By critically examining how ethnic identity interacts with these contextual features, the present study will offer a more complete picture of distributive politics in developing-world democracies. In addition, by systematically comparing constituencies with varying levels of civic participation, the study facilitates a test of theories suggesting that widespread civic engagement can induce greater public accountability from legislators.Broader Impact: This research speaks directly to matters of practical concern about the performance of new democracies in Africa. Understanding how ethnic identity and the behavior of civil society impact public goods provision is essential for ensuring representative governance and promoting equitable development. The information will be useful to policymakers eager to expand access to public goods provision to broader segments of the population. In addition, the investigators will be able to share the results of the research broadly within academic communities in Kenya, at the universities with which the researchers are obtaining research affiliations, as well as in seminars and conferences in the United States. Survey data from this project will likewise be made publicly available.