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Political Participation in the Kibera Informal Settlement in Nairobi, Kenya

Brandt, Clara LU (2018) STVK02 20172
Department of Political Science
Abstract
This paper attempts to expose the factors influencing political participation in the Kibera informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. To this end, an extensive survey was carried out in three of the five political wards in Kibera. Prior comparative studies of political participation have reached the somewhat simplistic conclusion that poor citizens are a politically inactive group in society. A handful of studies have, however, inquired the nuances of participation within that group. In stark contrast to the traditional literature, they find least financially well-off respondents to be the more active ones, and that participation is chiefly driven by encounters with local representatives. While the indicators correlating with voting in Kibera... (More)
This paper attempts to expose the factors influencing political participation in the Kibera informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. To this end, an extensive survey was carried out in three of the five political wards in Kibera. Prior comparative studies of political participation have reached the somewhat simplistic conclusion that poor citizens are a politically inactive group in society. A handful of studies have, however, inquired the nuances of participation within that group. In stark contrast to the traditional literature, they find least financially well-off respondents to be the more active ones, and that participation is chiefly driven by encounters with local representatives. While the indicators correlating with voting in Kibera align with socioeconomic factors described in traditional theories, the regression analysis reveals a similar pattern of political participation (other than voting) and encounters with local politicians. Moreover, group membership is strongly correlated with both voting and other political activities in the sample. (Less)
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author
Brandt, Clara LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVK02 20172
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Political participation, urban poor, informal settlement, Kenya
language
English
id
8938064
date added to LUP
2018-08-24 09:11:11
date last changed
2018-08-24 09:11:11
@misc{8938064,
  abstract     = {{This paper attempts to expose the factors influencing political participation in the Kibera informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. To this end, an extensive survey was carried out in three of the five political wards in Kibera. Prior comparative studies of political participation have reached the somewhat simplistic conclusion that poor citizens are a politically inactive group in society. A handful of studies have, however, inquired the nuances of participation within that group. In stark contrast to the traditional literature, they find least financially well-off respondents to be the more active ones, and that participation is chiefly driven by encounters with local representatives. While the indicators correlating with voting in Kibera align with socioeconomic factors described in traditional theories, the regression analysis reveals a similar pattern of political participation (other than voting) and encounters with local politicians. Moreover, group membership is strongly correlated with both voting and other political activities in the sample.}},
  author       = {{Brandt, Clara}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Political Participation in the Kibera Informal Settlement in Nairobi, Kenya}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}