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SUMMARY:Research Group: The Kenyan Elections of 2013: A triumph of democra
 cy? - Dr Nic Cheeseman (University of Oxford)
DTSTART:20130527T120000Z
DTEND:20130527T130000Z
UID:TALK45109@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Thomas J.W. Probert
DESCRIPTION:According to President Kenyatta\, the recent elections were a 
 ‘triumph of democracy’ – a phrase carried without criticism by many 
 western media houses. Yet in many ways the elections were a disaster. New 
 technologies introduced to prevent rigging failed comprehensively. The cou
 nting and tabulation of results took way longer than expected and the resu
 lts reveal a number of significant discrepancies that throw the credibilit
 y of the election into doubt. As a result\, the 40-50% of the country that
  did not vote for Uhuru Kenyatta feels cheated – and worse\, believes th
 e institutions ushered in under the new constitution have failed them and 
 cannot be trusted to make fair decisions. Based on first-hand experience\,
  the paper documents the shortcomings of the election and explains why the
  polls remained peaceful despite their many defects. It also considers the
  state of Kenyan democracy and the capacity for institutional reforms to p
 romote democratization in Africa. Despite\, the increasing politicization\
 nof the Electoral Commission and Supreme Court\, I conclude that new\ncons
 titutional provisions encouraged political leaders to play by the rules\no
 f the game – and will continue to reshape Kenyan politics going forwards
 .\n\n\nThis paper is part of the CGHR Research Group\, a forum for graduat
 e students and early-career researchers from any department and disciplina
 ry background researching issues of governance and human rights in the glo
 bal\, regional\, and national contexts. ["more details":http://www.polis.c
 am.ac.uk/cghr/research_research_group.html]
LOCATION:Room 138\, Alison Richard Building\, Sidgwick Site\, 7 West Rd\, 
 CB3 9DT
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