Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Deconcentration in Kenya Since the Beginning of Multi-Party Democracy

在过去20年里，撒哈拉以南非洲近三分之一的国家重组了政府，增加了行政单位的数量。如果不伴随权力分配的变化，这一过程被称为分权，定义为国家机器的空间分解和较低级别政府的行政单位的倍增。为了了解这些最近的变化，该项目建议对肯尼亚国家进行深入研究。在肯尼亚国内，1992年开始的分权恰逢该国自独立时代以来的第一次多党选举。在此期间，肯尼亚行政单位的突然和大规模增加没有遵循历史趋势、发展水平或所述的行政关切，如安全问题或人口增长。此外，它一开始并不是为了扩大权威而做出的协调努力。在理解国家机器的这种增加时，这个项目的驱动力直觉是，塑造这个机构的结构和规模的权力往往在一个国家的行政部门之下不受制约。在这种新的选举环境中，肯尼亚总统监督了部队的创建，并根据他们的选举需求塑造了国家。这个项目追踪新的行政单位创建的时间和地点，以经验地检验几个假说。该项目收集和汇总了两年一次的行政官员申报单，其中载有行政区的名称以及自1990年以来的重新划分选区的地图。以这种频率收集的这些数据可以描述国家内部单位的任何变化，并将被用来理解影响一个国家何时何地扩大其权力的动态。这个项目的智力价值在于它承诺推动国家建设的文献。这一子领域的大部分工作考察了独立后时代机构的发展和影响。这项工作的重点是最近的重组，以了解国家建设如何随着制度环境的变化而取得进展。这个项目将做出几个更广泛的贡献。这项工作将对记者、政策制定者和民间社会组织有用。此外，更好地理解国家结构的逻辑将有助于政策和国际组织内部正在进行的关于权力下放和权力下放的辩论。

Nearly one-third of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have restructured their governments and increased the number of administrative units in the past two decades. When unaccompanied by changes in the distribution of power, this process is known as deconcentration, and is defined as the spatial decomposition of the state apparatus, and the multiplication of administrative units at lower tiers of government. To understand these recent changes, this project proposes an in-depth study of the Kenyan state. Within Kenya, the beginning of deconcentration in 1992 coincided with the country's first multi-party elections since the independence era. The sudden and massive multiplication of administrative units in Kenya during this time period did not follow historical trends, levels of development, or stated administrative concerns such as security issues or population growth. Moreover, it did not begin as a concerted effort to extend authority. In understanding this increase in the state apparatus, the driving intuition for this project is that the power to shape the structure and size of this body often lies unchecked under a country's executive. In this new electoral environment, Kenyan presidents have overseen unit creation and shaped the state in response to their electoral needs. This project traces when and where new administrative units were created to empirically test several hypotheses. This project amasses and aggregates bi-annual administrative officer returns, which contain the names of administrative areas, as well as redistricting maps since 1990. Collected at this frequency, these data allow for the delineation of any changes in the country's internal units, and will be used to understand the dynamics that affect when and where a state extends its authority.The intellectual merit of this project lies in its promise to advance the literature of state building. Most work in this sub-field examines the development and effect of post-independence era institutions. This work focuses on recent reorganizations to understand how state building progresses as a response to changes in the institutional environment.This project will make several broader contributions. This work will be of use to journalists, policy makers, and civil society organizations. Additionally, a better understanding of the logic of state structure promises to contribute to the ongoing debates within policy and international organization circles regarding decentralization and devolution of power.