Department of Humanities

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://repository.chuka.ac.ke/handle/chuka/261

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Browsing Department of Humanities by Subject "democratic governance"

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    A critical analysis of Thomas Hobbes’ political theory and its relevance in public participation for effective governance under constitution of Kenya 2010
    (Chuka University, 2024) Kobia Josphat Kaume
    This study explored the topic of a critical analysis of Thomas Political Theory and its relevance in public participation for effective governance under the Kenyan constitution 2010.Public participation is viewed as a mechanism by which the citizens contribute towards governance and service delivery. It was informed by continuous lawsuits that quashed and overturned government’s decisions for not involving the public in considering their views before developing its policies despite the fact that public participation principle is enshrined in the constitution. Thomas Hobbes was a seventeenth century political philosopher and his political theory emphasizes on governance, formation of state and submission of the individual to the sovereign. For him, formation of the state is an initiative of the members of the public who come together and form a society with one appointed as the sovereign so as to bring checks and balances. Public participation is a basic component of democracy enshrined in the Kenyan constitution 2010. The purpose of this study was to critically examine and emphasize the role of public participation and its implication in democratic governance in Kenya and account the reason for the introduction of public participation under the Kenyan constitution 2010.The study was guided by three objectives: To analyze the theory of Thomas Hobbes on the necessity to move from the state of nature to the formation of society, To draw inferences from Hobbes’ theory with Kenyan context on public participation, To examine the nexus between public participation and good governance in reference to Kenya post 2010. Lack of proper and adequate public participation has led to misuse of public resources and increased the rate of corruption since no accountability. The assumption of this study was that though public participation has been conducted, it has not been effectively implemented as stipulated in the constitution. It was guided by Thomas Hobbes political theory. The theory emphasizes on public participation, consent and consensus in formation of government. The study was library based and the researcher used purposive sampling method to purposely sample fifteen books that were inclined to materials related to public participation and Thomas Hobbes political theory on governance in Kenya. The data were collected through reading of texts both published and unpublished Descriptive research design was used for it enabled the description of state of affairs in governance as they were in Kenya post 2010 constitution. It established that public participation contributes in effective governance, peace building and trust since citizens feel their voice is heard. It also established that corruption and misuse of public resources was contributed by lack of adequate public participation since there is no accountability. The Study was done in Chuka University, Catholic University of Eastern Africa and Consolata Institute of Philosophy libraries. The study adopted descriptive design and used critical method that questions assumptions, examine evidence, identify biases, and striving for a deeper understanding of public participation in Kenya. Critical method offered an internal or immanent criticism to the governance in Kenya under 2010 constitution. The study emphasized on the importance of effective feedback mechanisms by government to ensure implementation of decisions reached through citizen participation. It found out that public participation is an important principle of governance. It was also revealed that all county governance structures should ensure decisions reached through public participation and consensus building forums are strictly implemented. Instituting appropriate and adequate engagement forums for inclusivity, equality and effective citizen participation in management and development matters was emphasized for the development of policy that promotes effective governance. These findings significantly contributed to the understanding of the role of public participation on performance of devolved governance systems in Kenya.