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The Global Nature of Policy Problems

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Governing Kenya

Abstract

Many important public policy issues are trans-boundary in nature and involve global dimensions, constraints, and actors. Given Kenya’s historical experience with globalization and power imbalances in the international system, unpacking the dynamics of potential dependencies, forms of foreign interference, and global cooperation within Kenyan public policymaking is critical. This chapter provides an overview of some of these global dimensions and dynamics of public policymaking in Kenya. Drawing on two case studies in different policy areas (Climate Change and Countering Violent Extremism), it explores how global dynamics play out in practice within the context of local institutions and politics. These case studies show how diverse actors and institutions engage, often contentiously, in crafting policy to address important problems. Despite global power asymmetries, the chapter shows that Kenyan actors can creatively craft autonomous policies to address key problems in society. Even when good policies are successfully crafted and anchored in law, however, implementation remains a challenge, especially in the light of powerful actors that can block change when it threatens their interests.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Policy advisory systems are defined as the system of governmental and non-governmental actors who compete or cooperate to provide the advice for decision-makers who shape policies.

  2. 2.

    In some African countries the vast amount of public expenditures comes from aid. Kenya is not considered an aid dependent country with approximately 7–10% of its public expenditures coming from aid. However, aid is not the only kind of dependency as we have noted.

  3. 3.

    The Ministry of Environment changed names a few times over the course of time from the Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, a move that took away responsibility over Mining and Irrigations as the two functions are now under separate Ministries. For simplicity we will just use the term “Ministry of the Environment”.

  4. 4.

    We recommend those interested in the details of this process read Njoroge et al. (2017). We are indebted to this valuable case study for our chapter.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York City, NY, USA

    Jacqueline M. Klopp

  2. Independent Consultant on Governance, Peace, and Security, Washington, DC, USA

    Abdullahi Boru Halakhe

Authors
  1. Jacqueline M. Klopp
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  2. Abdullahi Boru Halakhe
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jacqueline M. Klopp .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya

    Gedion Onyango

  2. Department of Political Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Goran Hyden

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Klopp, J.M., Halakhe, A.B. (2021). The Global Nature of Policy Problems. In: Onyango, G., Hyden, G. (eds) Governing Kenya. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61784-4_3

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