All Change, Gender Mainstreaming in Democratic Innovation and Participation: A Critical Review, The More Things Change, the More they Remain the Same

There is an increasing recognition that aspects such as gender mainstreaming should be part of the New Public Management ostensibly leading to democratic innovation and hopefully greater participation of females within a particular social, political and economic environment. Gender mainstreaming, especially in the more developing countries represents part of the significant changes in public management that encompass democratic participation. This study aimed to evaluate the extent to which an innovative democratic approach, namely gender equity and equality, has been mainstreamed as part of democratic participation in the new public management in the Kenyan Legislature. The study made use of three complementary theories, that is, (1) the democratic innovation theory (Asenbaum, 2021; Cunningham, 2002; Elstub et al., 2016; Elstub & Escobar, 2019; Fung, 2015; Smith, 2005; 2009; 2019); and (2) changing organisational culture (Cameron & Quinn, 2006); both leading to (3) competing values in public administration (Hood, 1991). Findings revealed that there were certain achievements, just as there were challenges, in order to achieve the stipulations of the gender rule in context. This is because despite the two-third gender basis in law, the democratic innovation somewhat largely overlooked the social-cultural context. Subsequently, it is imperative that the social context be taken in to promote participatory democracy, rather than a fixation on democratic innovation.