Civil Society, NGOs and Democratic Governance in developing countries. A case of KHRC in Kenya

Master's Thesis from the year 2014 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Development Politics, grade: 7, University of Aarhus (Institute of Culture and Society), course: International Relations, language: English, abstract: Scholars agree that modern political democracies are almost impossible without vibrant, free and activist civil societies. In Africa, as in many other parts of the developing world, civil societies have arisen as a response to the dysfunction and despotism of the postcolonial state.

Given the current political developments in Kenya, including a new constitution promulgated in August 2010 that has been applauded as being very progressive and with an elaborate chapter on Bills of Rights, and its continuing implementation, the relatively peaceful, largely ¿free and fair¿ general elections of March 2013 that KHRC monitored, it can be said that the organization has positively played a positive role in the last quarter of a century but there is still a long way to go for real democratic principles to be permanently enshrined among the Kenyan political elites and state institutions and as such KHRC must continue on its struggle to keep the various regimes that come into power on their toes and engage them on the way towards ensuring a strong and stable Kenyan state that is deeply rooted in democratic governance and that has accountability, transparency and respect for human rights.

This thesis there seeks to examine how civil society, represented in this case study by KHRC have contributed to the increased democratic space in Kenya, and therefore be able to conclude whether civil society and NGOs contribute to democratization and democratic governance within the state.

Scholars agree that modern political democracies are almost impossible without vibrant, free and activist civil societies. In Africa, as in many other parts of the developing world, civil societies have arisen as a response to the dysfunction and despotism of the postcolonial state.