Toward an assessment of the relevance of proposed public policy in contemporary African society: A retrospective review of Kenya's now‐defunct building bridges initiative, with special reference to post‐election violence

Whereas competing interests characterize the African public policy sphere today, the lens of mass‐elite differences has hardly been employed to study electoral violence. Accordingly, this article juxtaposes the lived experiences of ordinary Kenyan citizens, obtained through focus groups, with the content of the now‐defunct Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), a comprehensive set of public policy changes proposed by Kenya's political protagonists Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga in 2017. It poses the following broad question: did the BBI proposals truly intersect with the opinions and lived experiences of the masses? I find that various factors, including the lack of electoral and judicial integrity, and a winner‐takes‐all democratic system, are responsible for post‐election violence according to citizens. A comparative analysis of citizen perspectives and the BBI Report reveals considerable congruence in the understanding of the causes of post‐election violence. The study partly concludes that African leaders should continue to engage in policy entrepreneurship. Related Articles Hodzi, Obert. 2020. “African Political Elites and the Making(s) of the China Model in Africa.” Politics & Policy 48(5): 887–987. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12380. Kouladoum, Jean‐Claude. 2023. “The Role of Freedom of Communication in Modulating the Effect of Political Participation on Electoral Outcome in Africa.” Politics & Policy 51(4): 588–613. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12539. Onyango, Gedion. 2024. “DHR‐PA—Democracy and Human Rights in Public Administration in Africa.” Politics & Policy 52(2): 426–49. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12584. 拟议的公共政策在当代非洲社会的相关性评估:对不复存在的肯尼亚“桥梁建设倡议”的回顾性综述——特别关注选举后的暴力 鉴于当今非洲公共政策领域的利益冲突特征，大众与精英之间的差异视角几乎不被用于研究选举暴力。因此，本文将“通过焦点小组获得的普通肯尼亚公民的生活经历”与现已不复存在的“桥梁建设倡议”(BBI)的内容进行了对比，后者是由肯尼亚政治主角乌胡鲁·肯雅塔和拉伊拉·奥廷加于2017年提出的一套全面的公共政策变革。本文提出了一个广泛的问题:BBI的提议是否真正与群众的意见和生活经历相交叉?本文发现，公民认为选举和司法诚信的缺乏以及赢者通吃的民主制度等因素都是造成选举后的暴力事件的原因。对公民观点和BBI报告的比较分析表明，对“选举后的暴力”起因的理解存在相当大的一致性。本文得出部分结论，即非洲领导人应该继续参与政策创业。 Hacia una evaluación de la relevancia de la política pública propuesta en la sociedad africana contemporánea: una revisión retrospectiva de la ahora desaparecida Iniciativa Construyendo Puentes de Kenia, con especial referencia a la violencia postelectoral Mientras que los intereses contrapuestos caracterizan la esfera de las políticas públicas africanas hoy en día, la lente de las diferencias entre las élites de masas apenas se ha empleado para estudiar la violencia electoral. En cons