Abstract
<p>This study explores democratic practice in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic in the light of globally prescribed and acceptable norms, tenets and values of democracy as a form of government. The study was conducted in Nigeria and adopted a multistage sampling technique to administer questionnaire to 700 delegates across the six (6) geopolitical zones of Nigeria’s 36 States. The results and findings show that Nigeria’s democracy is plagued with massive electoral fraud, including intimidation, disenfranchisement of eligible contestants and voters from participating in the democratic process, corruption of the election process, scam, and fraudulent declaration of winners of elections. The implications of such democratic deceit in Nigeria’s democracy includes voter apathy resulting from lack of confidence in the democratic process and outcome, violence and political instability and the nonparticipation of qualified and honest citizens in the politics of Nigeria. Consequently, leaders that emerge from Nigeria’s democratic politics are not always the choice of the people, which explains why they are not accountable to the people as well as why there is deficit of public trust in Nigeria’s democratic system.</p>
Highlights
Despite the myriad of challenges associated with democratic practice (AKE, 2001; SIGNER, 2009), democracy is generally considered to be the best form of government that guarantees collective progress for the people (HELD, 2006; ACHEBE, 2012)
Democracy in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic is bedeviled with incidences of criminality ranging from allegations and provable indictments of abuse of power and the use of the military and thugs by politicians to rigging of elections to subvert the choices of the masses (KOFAMATA, 2007; BAKARE, 2013)
The most significant finding of this study is that elections in Nigeria do not reflect the norms of democracy but reflect the realities of manipulations of the electoral process and outcome to favour those who subscribe to anti-democratic tendencies such as intimidation, vote buying, violence and the use of security to undermine the will of the people
Summary
Despite the myriad of challenges associated with democratic practice (AKE, 2001; SIGNER, 2009), democracy is generally considered to be the best form of government that guarantees collective progress for the people (HELD, 2006; ACHEBE, 2012). This is because, democratic government gives the people the opportunity to elect those who would represent or lead them at the political scene. The democratic experiences of some nations have debunked the generally held idea that democracy is the government of the people as democracy has increasingly become associated with vices that undermine democratic norms, values and principles. The democratic experiences of some nations have debunked the generally held idea that democracy is the government of the people as democracy has increasingly become associated with vices that undermine democratic norms, values and principles. Leight, Pande and Ralston (2016) note that democracy in both developed and developing countries is threatened by vote-buying; Signer (2009) identified demagoguery as a problem of democracy across the world; Held (2006) emphasized the role of despotic power in undermining democracy; Kirkpatrick (1982) identified dictatorship by democratically elected leaders as a major problem of democracy; and Gberevbie (2014) emphasized the failure of democracies because of weakened democratic institutions in some so called democratic States.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Revista Brasileira de Planejamento e Desenvolvimento
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
