The “Boomerang Effect”: Lessons Learned from Power Sharing in Kenya and Zimbabwe

Matthijs Bogaards*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to Book/Report typesChapterpeer-review

Abstract (may include machine translation)

The governments of national unity in Kenya (2008-2013) and Zimbabwe (2009-2013) have relevance beyond Eastern Africa. This chapter examines how political science has learned lessons from both experiences. It does so by focusing on three bodies of literature: (1) international data sets on power sharing; (2) the comparative literature on consociationalism; (3) regional and case studies. The starting point is Giovanni Sartori’s “boomerang effect”, or how misclassification can undermine valid theories. In this case, how misinterpretations of the experience with governments of national unity in Kenya and Zimbabwe have distorted our views on power sharing in general and consociationalism in particular. This chapter demonstrates that the boomerang effect has not been avoided in scholarly analysis. One reason is conceptual confusion between power sharing and consociationalism.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationState Politics and Public Policy in Eastern Africa
Subtitle of host publicationA Comparative Perspective
PublisherSpringer International Publishing
Pages75-96
Number of pages22
ISBN (Electronic)9783031134906
ISBN (Print)9783031134890
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2023

Keywords

  • Authoritarian
  • Boomerang effect
  • Concept
  • Consociationalism
  • Elections
  • Ethnic
  • Government
  • Kenya
  • Power sharing
  • Zimbabwe

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The “Boomerang Effect”: Lessons Learned from Power Sharing in Kenya and Zimbabwe'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this