Changing Incentives: How Electoral Reform Can Help Remove an Ethnic Focus in Political Competitions in Kenya

" As a writer once put it, we feel more at ease discussing other people's tribalism and not our own. And that is the problem in Kenya today. "-Walter O. Oyugi Acknowledgements I would like to thank my reader and advisor, Professor Haley, for pushing me in my writing these past four years. This thesis would not have been possible without his support to pursue my interests in East Africa. I would like to thank my mother for her never ending encouragement and countless hours reading through my work. Only a mother would have the patience to read a ninety page paper numerous times. Finally, I would like to thank my friends for reminding me to laugh on a daily basis. I have learned a great deal these past four years but none of it would matter if I did not have my friends by my side to help me enjoy the process along the way.