Observations 4816 4575 4291 4082 N (legislative 46 46 43 43 motion clusters) Notes: .01, *p .10. Standard errors are clustered by legislative motion. *** p ≤ .001, ** p ≤ ≤ .05, †p ≤ Dissenting votes are defined as votes cast by an MP against the majority of his/her own party. The results of the probit models largely confirm what was apparent in figure increase in party unity coinciding with each subsequent parliament post-2002. The significance of the institutional effect on legislative dissent is more consistently significant in the transition from the 10th to the 11th parliament (coinciding with the constitutional change), than during the transition from the 9th to the 10th, underscoring the importance of the constitutional change in strengthening the party system. The data at this point is too limited to allow a precise explanation of this decline in intraparty dissent. However, some suggestive comments can be made. One factor which may explaining this increase in party unity is the proliferation of parties coinciding with the onset of multiparty contestation. The multiple cleavages and ethnic diversity of Kenya has ensured that a fluid multiparty system would unfold despite the SMDP electoral system. Also, as legislative parties and organizations strengthen in the aftermath of the era of neopatrimonialism and single-party rule, so too would we expect the influence of the party leaders and whips over their backbenchers to be more important. To wit, as legislative resources and professionalism increase in Kenya, so too should legislators rely less on clientelistic relationships at the local level to remain in power. Legislative consensus Another measure of party system strength is legislative consensus. Reasonably people disagree over whether majoritarian or consensual institutions are most conducive to democratization. Given the of this debate, I will simply ‘essentially contested’ nature highlight a few measures of levels of consensus as applied to the recent parliaments of the Kenyan Assembly. Although the country maintained SMDP (a characteristic of majoritarian democracy), Kenya does now have a multiparty system, as well as other characteristics of consensus democracy such as enhanced judicial review,
Observations 4816 4575 4291 4082 N (legislative motion clusters) 46 46 43 43 Notes: *** p ≤ .001, ** p ≤ .01, *p ≤ .05, †p ≤ .10. Standard errors are clustered by legislative motion. Dissenting votes are defined as votes cast by an MP against the majority of his/her own party. The results of the probit models largely confirm what was apparent in figure increase in party unity coinciding with each subsequent parliament post-2002. The significance of the institutional effect on legislative dissent is more consistently significant in the transition from the 10th to the 11th parliament (coinciding with the constitutional change), than during the transition from the 9th to the 10th, underscoring the importance of the constitutional change in strengthening the party system. The data at this point is too limited to allow a precise explanation of this decline in intraparty dissent. However, some suggestive comments can be made. One factor which may explaining this increase in party unity is the proliferation of parties coinciding with the onset of multiparty contestation. The multiple cleavages and ethnic diversity of Kenya has ensured that a fluid multiparty system would unfold despite the SMDP electoral system. Also, as legislative parties and organizations strengthen in the aftermath of the era of neopatrimonialism and single-party rule, so too would we expect the influence of the party leaders and whips over their backbenchers to be more important. To wit, as legislative resources and professionalism increase in Kenya, so too should legislators rely less on clientelistic relationships at the local level to remain in power. Legislative consensus Another measure of party system strength is legislative consensus. Reasonably people disagree over whether majoritarian or consensual institutions are most conducive to democratization. Given the ‘essentially contested’ nature of this debate, I will simply highlight a few measures of levels of consensus as applied to the recent parliaments of the Kenyan Assembly. Although the country maintained SMDP (a characteristic of majoritarian democracy), Kenya does now have a multiparty system, as well as other characteristics of consensus democracy such as enhanced judicial review,