Democracy, election rigging, election, democratic consolidation 1. With heavy reliance on secondary data supported by analytical approach, the paper xrayed the role of political parties in the democratic consolidation of nigeria s fourth republic. Elections and democratic consolidation in west africa. The recent 2016 post election crisis in gabon12 that left scores dead seems to shows that electoral violence is an intractable phenomenon on the. The history of general elections organised in nigeria since 1959 has been categorised broadly into transition elections and consolidation elections. It is predicated on the contradictory trajectories of electoral politics in west africa under the socalled third wave of. Nigeria is transitioning from a dominant party system to a competitive electoral polity, which is a major marker on the road to democratic consolidation. Anc dominance and democratic consolidation in south africa. For democratic values to be nurtured, flourished and consolidated in nigeria, attention should be paid to the election conducted at the grassroots levels. Democracy depends on political parties to survive, since the structure of elections, from citizen participation to candidate selection and presentation of competing political programmes, are done by political parties lamidi and bello, 2012. Transition elections are the general elections conducted by a departing political authority which was either the colonial authority as was the case in 1959 or a departing military regime as in 1979, 1993 and 1999. Between democratic consolidation and change adeolu durotoye 0 0 head, department of international relations and diplomacy college of social and management sciences, afe babalola university, ado ekiti, ekiti state, nigeria the conduct of the 2015 presidential election in nigeria.
Consolidation of democracy and good governance in nigeria. Despite the appreciation that only credible election can consolidate and sustain nigerias nascent democracy, election often result to. Political parties and democratic consolidation in nigeria. Election related violence has sociocultural, political and. Hence, if moral is in its 48 p a g e elections and democratic consolidation in nigeria. Elections and governance in nigerias fourth republic. Methodologically, data for this paper were generated mainly from secondary sources of recorded human documents. National integration and democratic consolidation in nigeria phillip oyadiran and adekeye j. Democratic consolidation in nigeria papers in the ssrn. It will be analyzed via content and historical analysis. This study seeks to interrogate the foregoing questions.
Adeshola department of public administration, university of abuja, abuja, nigeria. The paper explored and analyzed election crisis in nigeria and its implication on democratic consolidation and development using content analysis method. All said and done, democratic consolidation is not dependent solely upon elections and the nature of electoral systems in. A democracy is widely considered consolidated when several or all of the following conditions are met. Unconsolidated democracies suffer from formalized but intermittent elections and clientelism. In a liberal democracy, election is the best option to change government periodically. Democratic consolidation the term democratic consolidation means different thing to different people. Introduction we are going to look into all the histories of election rigging in nigeria from 1960 to 2007 and how they have hindered the emergence of democratic consolidation in nigeria. Anc dominance and democratic consolidation in south africa robert wieczorek, pennsylvania state university robert wieczorek is a senior schreyer honors scholar, paterno fellow, and strategic and global security scholar majoring in international politics with minors in global security and sociology. As the case of gambia has shown, regional leaders and organizations have a crucial role to play in ensuring peaceful transitions after contested democratic elections.
What are the implications on democratic consolidation. However, this enterprise have come along with its own effects positive and negative including election related violence. Objectives of the study the paper is set to achieve the following objectives. Final ndi report on nigeria s 2007 elections 5 the nigerian national assembly and nigerian civil society organizations and professional associations, such as the nigerian bar association nba, should exercise more robust oversight over the electoral reform process. Elections and democratic consolidation in nigeria longdom. Accepted 8 june, 2016 abstract there have been sterile and robust debates on the issue of. However, in developing countries like nigeria, most of the elections have been characterized by crises, which directly impede the sustenance of democracy and development. There is significant relationship between electoral process and democratic development in nigeria. The beacon, a journal of the tai solarin college of. For our concern in this paper, electoral process is a precondition for democratic election which must be guided by the adopted electoral law and guidelines in a democratic system. Ghana is a beacon of hope in africa for its democratic laurels since it entered into multi party democratic elections in 1992.
The study examines elections and democratic consolidation in west africa using nigeria and senegal as a comparative lens from 19992012. National integration and democratic consolidation in nigeria. It is this picture of africa as an emerging democratic continent from decades of brutal dictatorship and the massive economic. Pdf the electoral process and democratic consolidation in nigeria. Pdf the electoral process and democratic consolidation. In contemporary times, political systems are undergoing qualitative transformation from authoritarian to participatory regimes. Credible elections and democratic consolidation in nigeria. An assessment of political parties and democratic consolidation in nigeria s fourth republic mike omilusi, phd department of political science ekiti state university, nigeria abstract democratic values and practices are crucial for democratic institutionalization and the. Over the next year and a half, if africas elections are by and large conducted fairly, transparently, and peacefully, they could significantly contribute to the consolidation of democratic processes on the continent, as. Democracy and democratic consolidation in nigerian fourth republic. This includes support for political pluralism, regular elections, freedom of the press, and the right of association. Department of political science university of calabar. It also demands upholding democratic values of popular participation, respect for the rule of law, free and fair elections and the independence of the judiciary. There is, therefore, a link between political parties and democratic consolidation.
Firstly, there must be a durability or permanence of democracy over time, including but by no means limited to adherence to democratic principles such as rule of law, independent judiciary, competitive and fair elections, and a developed civil society. Therefore, this paper examines democratic consolidation and challenges of legislative politics in nigeria from 19992011. Pdf elections and democratic consolidation in nigeria. The challenge of electoral management in nigeria kujenga. The effect of election violence on democracy and democratic consolidation in nigeria ogunbodede nife and adelakun olabisi department of public administration, rufus giwa polytechnic, owo, ondo state, nigeria abstract election has been a major factor in nigeria s political development since independence, even.
Unless members of the political class moderate their desperation to win elections using all means at their disposal and act within the provisions of the law, the postponement poses a real danger to the consolidation of nigeria s electoral democracy. For over two decades, there has been a new wind of democratic change. Consolidation suggests there is a democratic foundation being strengthened and built. But to a large extent the election is relegated to the background whereby its outcome is often. This ugly trend and perhaps, the implication make this work inevitable. Causes of electoral violence in africa written by ngah.
Election riggings in nigeria have dealt a huge blow to the development of democracy in nigeria. Azeez olaniyan and olumuyiwa babatunde amao ekiti state university, university of otago, new zealand abstract one major issue emerging from the governorship elections conducted in the ekiti and osun states of nigeria is the presence of heavy security forces during their conduct. Significance of the study the study would be of immense importance to government at all levels, inec, politicians and political stakeholders in nigeria as it would reveal electoral process and the level of democratic development in nigeria. Causes of electoral violence in africa written by ngah gabriel sous dir. Pdf nigeria s elections so far have been characterized by unprecedented ferocious and violent outcome due to various forms of electoral manipulations.
The paper examines elections in africa, using the recently concluded 2015 elections in nigeria to show the significance and effect of credible elections to democratic consolidation by situating its argument within the context of staffan lindberg theoretical postulation. A critique of 2011 election alfa patrick innocent email. The main objective of this paper is to examine nigeria 2015 elections and its. The study argues that, regularities of elections have potential for democratic improvement and that the 2015 elections have restored nigeria back on the path of democratic consolidation through elite acceptance of electoral outcome, electoral turnover, elite pact and consensus, coordinated opposition and effective electoral management. The climax of the analysis is the identified challenges plaguing democratic consolidation since. Viewed from this prism, elections represent the expression of the sovereign will of the people. The electoral process and democratic consolidation in nigeria. To examine the role of election in democratic consolidation to assess the level of democratic consolidation in nigeria s democracy.
Election crises and democratic consolidation in nigeria. Elections were first organized and conducted in nigeria in 1922 by the british. Journal of emerging trends in educational research and policy studies jeteraps 24. Headquarters, abuja, cpc demanded a fresh manual recalculation of. As you know, peaceful alternation of power through competitive elections has happened in ghana, senegal, malawi and mauritius in recent times. This worldwide trend known as democratization has made the issue of election a crucial political imperative. The aminu kano centre would appear to have toed this line of optimism, in the glare of damning evidence of nondemocratization in a democracy, in the couching of this symposium topic. Accepted 15 october, 2018 while it can be argued that elections are not enough for the consolidation of democracy, elections are. This paper examines election rigging and its effect on democratic consolidation in nigeria relying on qualitative approach, using data gathered from secondary sources. Civil society organizations played an instrumental role in the restoration of democracy in nigeria and ghana and in recognition of their important role in democratic transition in both countries they were considered by both scholars and international organizations as a veritable tool for democratic consolidation. Electoral violence and the challenge of democratic. Pdf this paper examines election rigging and its effect on democratic consolidation in nigeria relying on qualitative approach, using data gathered. The paper posits that what negates democratic consolidation in nigeria is the failure of the actors to abide by the norms of democratization.
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