Kathleen Klaus

Land grievances and the mobilization of electoral violence

Recent studies have asked why elites resort to violence, yet many overlook the process and dynamics of mobilizing violence. How do politicians convince their supporters to fight? This article argues that in multi-ethnic and democratizing societies where land and property rights are weak and politicized, land grievances can provide leaders with a powerful tool to organize electoral violence. We develop a theory to show how land grievances can give rise to violent mobilization when leaders frame elections as a threat to the land security of supporters or an opportunity to reclaim land or strengthen land rights. Conversely, land grievances are ineffective when citizens do not believe that elections signal a credible threat to their land security or an opportunity to strengthen land rights. We further specify how the type of land grievance shapes the logic and form of violent action. Grievances based on land insecurity shape a pre-emptive logic of violence, while grievances based on competing land claims often shape an opportunistic logic of electoral violence. The article examines the validity of our theory using a comparative case study between zones of escalation and non-escalation of violence during post-electoral crises in Kenya (2007–08) and Côte d’Ivoire (2010–11). By observing the variation between positive and negative cases, the article identifies factors that foment and constrain the mobilization of election violence.

Defending the city, defending votes: campaign strategies in urban Ghana

Rapid urbanisation in African democracies is changing the way that political parties engage with their constituents, shifting relations between hosts and migrants. This article examines the strategies that parties use to maintain and build electoral support in increasingly diverse contexts. Drawing on in-depth interviews and ethnographic research in Accra, Ghana, we find that some urban political parties rely on inclusive forms of mobilisation, promoting images of cosmopolitanism and unity to incorporate a broad grassroots coalition. Yet in nearby constituencies, parties respond to changing demographics through exclusive forms of mobilisation, using narratives of indigeneity and coercion to intimidate voters who ‘do not belong’. Two factors help explain this variation in mobilisation: incumbency advantage and indigene dominance. In contrast to most scholarship on ethnicity and electoral politics in Africa, we find that these varying mobilisation strategies emerge from very local neighbourhood-level logics and motivations.

Contentious Land Narratives and the Nonescalation of Election Violence: Evidence from Kenya's Coast Region

Abstract: This article examines the puzzle of the nonescalation of electoral violence. Drawing on evidence from Kenya’s Coast and Rift Valley regions, the article argues that land narratives along the coast create few motives for people to participate in electoral violence because residents do not link their land rights with electoral outcomes. Politicians thus have far less power to use land narratives to organize violence. Two factors help account for this regional variation between the Rift Valley and the Coast: the strength of the political patron and the proportion of “outsiders” relative to “insiders.” Résumé: Cet article examine la variation régionale en violence électorale entre la côte et la vallée du Rift régions au Kenya. Il fait valoir que les politiciens ont beaucoup moins de pouvoir le long de la côte pour utiliser les récits du pays qui permet d’organiser la violence parce que les résidents de la région ne rapprochent pas leurs droits fonciers avec les résultats électoraux. Deux autres facteurs également aide à mieux se rendre compte de cette variation régionale: la force des patrons politiques et les populations relatives des “étrangers” face aux “résidents.”

Chinsinga Blessings. Democracy, Decentralisation and Poverty Reduction in Malawi. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, 2007. Mainzer Beiträge zur Afrikaforschung series, vol. 15. 233 pp. Map. Tables. Figures. References. €29,80. Paper.

Blessings Chinsingas book examines the politics of poverty reduction set amidst Malawis decentralization experience. Chinsinga challenges the widely held belief that decentralization naturally facilitates good governance and development. By means of data gathered from secondary sources, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions, he captures the pitfalls that have unhinged the much heralded policy reform process and portrays a political and social landscape dominated by complex and pervasive power struggles among several discordant actors. What emerges from the study is a reform process captured by the politics of donor-driven development in an emerging democracy. Decentralization, he argues, has led to a series of conflicts over how society should be organized—between the state and the citizenry, the local and the center, the government and the donors—cast in largely zero sum terms. The book engages with the many stakeholders in the poverty reduction process, although Chinsingas primary interest lies in understanding the ways in which donor institutions shape and transform the culture and policy environment of decentralization and poverty reduction.