The influence of business associations on legislation: The case of Kenya

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1636
• Published date: 01 November 2017
• Date: 01 November 2017

PRACTITIONER PAPER

The influence of business associations on legislation: The case

of Kenya

David Irwin

1

|Mary Githinji

2

1

Irwin Grayson Associates, Riding Mill NE44

6AL, UK

2

Business Advocacy Fund, Nairobi, Kenya

Correspondence

David Irwin, Jacaranda, Long Rigg, Riding Mill

NE44 6AL, UK.

Email: david@irwin.org

Interest groups seek to influence public policy. Business associations specificallyseek to influence

policy related to the environment in which their members operate, with the intention of making it

easier for the members, and the wider private sector, to “do business.”Scholars question whether

interest groups are influential and, if so, the degree to which their activity influences public policy.

Even if they do influence public policy at the margins, it is questionable how effective they are in

influencing legislation. As a result, there is little exploration of the factors that may determine

whether business membership organizations (BMOs) are likely to be successful. This paper

explores the efforts of two BMOs in Kenya to influence legislation: In one case, the BMO

persuaded the government to introduce legislation to regulate an activity that had previously

not been subject to legislation; in the other, a BMO sought to persuade the governmentto amend

its own proposals to replace existing legislation with new legislation. In both cases, we find evi-

dence that the BMO was successful, though one BMO was significantly more successful than

the other. We review the factors perceived by the BMOs to have led to their success. Neither

was in a position to rely on economic or other power to strong‐arm the government. Both

followed a predominantly insider strategy though with occasional media back‐up. Both were

successful on the more “technical”issues. Key factors include the use of a champion, engaging

across government, supplying information, and providing evidence and good argumentation.

1|INTRODUCTION

Governments create the political and economic conditions in which

their private sector operates: usually described by practitioners as

the “enabling environment”or “investment climate.”Governments in

sub‐Saharan Africa largely now see the private sector as the engine

of growth (see, e.g., ILO, 2007, Government of Kenya (GoK) undated)

and, encouraged by the international finance institutions such as the

World Bank, take steps to improve the business environment. Business

associations, effectively interest groups for the private sector, see one

of their key roles being to influence public policy. This leads to debate,

inter alia, about whether interest groups gain attention (Page, 1999)

and whether they are successful in influencing policy (Grossman,

2012). However, Beyers, Eising and Maloney (2008) observe that

interest group scholars have tended to focus on the process of group

formation at the expense of interest group interaction with govern-

ment and the influence of interest groups on policy. Not surprisingly,

therefore, there is even less focus on the determinants of success

and especially those within the control of the business association.

Indeed, Klüver (2012) suggests that interest groups have been treated

as black boxes, without any consideration of what makes them tick.

This paper addresses that gap, reviewing the approaches to policy

reform of two business associations in Kenya.

Broadly speaking, there are four ways in which interest groups

may seek reform. Firstly, they may propose a change in the administra-

tive arrangements through which a policy is implemented, which does

not change the policy, but may reduce the burden imposed on busi-

ness. Secondly, they may argue for a changed interpretation of existing

regulation. Thirdly, they may seek a change in policy that does not

require a change in legislation. Lastly, they may seek a change in policy

that does require legislation. In general, persuading governments to

introduce or reform legislation is the most challenging way of bringing

about policy reform.

This paper describes two recent attempts by business membership

organizations (BMOs) in Kenya to influence legislation: in one case, the

Kenya Society of Physiotherapists (KSP) proposed the creation of

legislation where none had previously existed; in the other, the

Agricultural Industry Network (AIN) sought to amend legislation being

revised by the government following the implementation of the new

constitution in 2013.

We have chosen these case studies on the basis that there are

many fewer BMOs in Kenya than in, say, the United States or UK

Received: 10 August 2016 Accepted: 3 October 2016

DOI: 10.1002/pa.1636

J Public Affairs. 2017;17:e1636.

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1636

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa 1of10