ABSTRACT

This paper looks at the relationship between democratisation, or a move away from a one-party state to multi-party politics, and an increase in ‘criminal’ violence. It does this by looking at the Kenyan context, but findings are likely to be more widely applicable to other ‘third-wave democracies’, which are characterised by limited reforms, opportunist elites, high expectations of economic advance and high levels of poverty and inequality. The paper highlights at least three connections between democratisation or ‘de-auto-cratisation’ and an increase in organised crime and high levels of ‘everyday’ physical violence: political and economic liberalisation in a context of undemocratic state institutions; elite strategies of violence and use of an inherently exclusive politics of belonging; and elusive promises of ‘development’, ‘good governance’ and ‘democratisation’, which together provide both opportunities and motivations for ordinary citizens to engage in ‘criminal’ violence.