World Cup Bombing in Kampala, Uganda: Somali Militant Attack or Linked to Next Year's Election?
"The death toll from twin blasts that hit the Ugandan capital as football fans gathered to watch the World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands has risen to 74, officials say. Police are investigating whether the blasts were suicide bombings, and blamed Somalia's al-Shabab militants... But the BBC's Will Ross, in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, says there is no proof as yet that al-Shabab was involved. The blasts could be linked to next year's elections in Uganda." Full Article at BBC.com
Whether the attack is linked to external or internal perpetrators, Ugandan citizens are on edge in a fragile new democracy and this incident will be a test of their response. In Distrusting Democrats, author Devra Moehler examines the consequences of citizen involvement in Uganda, one of a growing number of countries employing the participatory model of constitutional reform. Contrary to predictions, Moehler finds that participation contributes to the creation of "distrusting democrats": citizens who are democratic in their attitudes, but suspicious of their governmental institutions in practice.
Through in-depth interviews, archival research, and a national random-sample survey of 820 Ugandan citizens, Moehler argues that participation in developing democracies gives citizens new tools with which to evaluate their imperfectly-performing institutions, and that participation raises democratic expectations and alerts citizens to existing democratic deficits. The general implications for constitution-building countries are clear: short-term risks of disillusionment and instability; and long-term advantages from a more sophisticated citizenry capable of monitoring leaders and promoting political development. More
Click for more info on: Distrusting Democrats: Outcomes of Participatory Constitution Making, by Devra C. Moehler. Paperback ISBN: 978-0-472-06993-4.
