Trickle-Down Ethnic Politics: Drunk and Absent in the Kenya Police Force (1957-1970)

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Vanden Eynde, Oliver; Kuhn, Patrick M.; Moradi, Alexander
• 署名单位: Paris School of Economics; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Durham University; University of Sussex; University of Oxford; Stellenbosch University
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.20160384
• 发表日期: 2018
• 页码: 388-417
• 关键词: public-goods; divisions; diversity; AFRICA; bureaucracy; election; VIOLENCE; service

摘要

How does ethnic politics affect the state's ability to provide policing services? Using a panel of administrative personnel data on the full careers of 6,784 police officers, we show how the rise of ethnic politics around Kenya's independence influenced policemen's behavior. We find a significant deterioration in discipline after Kenya's first multiparty election for those police officers of ethnic groups associated with the ruling party. These effects are driven by a behavioral change among these policemen. We find no evidence of favoritism within the police. Instead, our results are consistent with co-ethnic officers experiencing an emboldenment effect. Our findings highlight that the state's security apparatus, at its most granular level, is not insulated from ethnic politics.