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Civil society and the democratisation processes in Kenya and Uganda

A comparative analysis of the contribution of the Church and NGOs

Bibliographic Data

ID6213316
AuthorsJuma Anthony Okuku (Graduate School of Public and Development Management at the University of the Witwatersrand., corresponding author)
Year2003
Volume30
Issue1
Pages51-63
Publication date2003-05-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitikon (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0258-9346 • E-ISSN: 1470-1014
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0258934032000073905
OpenAlexW4246068297, W2018379495
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited8

Civil society is comprised of various interest groups through which individuals collectively carry out their social enterprises. The rise to centrality of civil society academic discourse in regard to Africa's development and democratisation processes has been in response to state weakness and authoritarianism. An autonomous civil society is seen as a necessary bulwark against undemocratic state power, whether potential or actual. It is viewed as the cutting edge of the effort to build a viable democratic order on the continent. This article contends that the success of civil society in forcing political concessions in Africa relates to the availability of opportunity to mobilise, agitate and bargain with the state from a position of strength in the struggle for the opening up of public spaces. However, the notion that a generic civil society is uniformly progressive in challenging the African authoritarian state and advancing democratisation may not be accurate. Civil society conceptions require a deep understanding of civil societies in their own terms. There are limits to what civic pressure can achieve in the absence of concurrent reform of the state itself This comparative study attempts to bring out the underlying similarities and differences in the contribution of the Christian church and NGOs as civil society organisations to the democratisation processes in Kenya and Uganda

Authoritarianism · Civil society · Democracy · Democratization · Development economics · Economics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Society, and Development

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    Open Access•Jean-Francois Bayart•Political Domination in Africa•1986

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  • The conventional notion of civil society

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  • Civil society and the political economy of foreign aid in Uganda

    J Oloka‐onyango, J J Barya et al.•Democratization•1997

  • Beyond the State

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  • Religion and Politics in East Africa

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Citations per year0.24
Citation span2005 - 2024 (20)
Highly citedNo

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