From Electoral Politics to Policymaking

This chapter examines the connection between electoral politics and policymaking. It shows that in Kenya the imperative of courting voters from multiple ethnic groups during elections creates an incentive for politicians to propose—and adopt—universal policies that distribute benefits widely. To illustrate the electoral value of universal policies, this chapter examines reforms in Kenya’s education sector. Since the return to multiparty politics, presidential aspirants have made education reform central to their electoral appeals, and successive leaders have implemented a number of reforms—most notably the reintroduction of free primary education (FPE)—that have dramatically increased access to formal education among children from all ethnic groups. The effects documented in the education sector are part of a broader movement away from particularistic policymaking in Kenya’s multiparty era.