Abstract
Abstract The return to democracy in Nigeria in 1999 ushered in some form of political reforms, particularly in the conduct of multi- party elections however political violence appears perverse. The objective of this study is to explore how the prevalence of political violence has undermined Nigeria’s democracy. The analysis follows survey data to address the questions regarding democracy and political violence. The study draws from the frustration-aggression and group violence theories and provides a deepened analytic exploration. Based on some of the assumptions of democracy understood as freedom, equality, accountability, rule of law etc, the study argues that these assumptions obviously constitute a ‘universal pattern’ in democratic practice, which makes a critical evaluation of the Nigerian experience important. Consequently, our findings suggest that the prevalence of political violence is fundamentally an attribute of vested interests of the political elite. Some policy recommendations follow.
Highlights
Studies exploring the links between democracy and political violence, and in more specific terms, how political violence undermines democratization have been complex, leading to the need for a critical appraisal
The responses on the various contexts political violence exist in post 1999 Nigeria showed that 77.44% affirmed that there are various contexts in which political violence exists; 11.79% had a negative view while 10.77% were not sure
The result from table 4 revealed that 72.40% of the respondents agree that, effective political violence mitigation measures have not been put in place by the government, 11.78% had a negative view while 15.82% were not sure
Summary
Studies exploring the links between democracy and political violence, and in more specific terms, how political violence undermines democratization have been complex, leading to the need for a critical appraisal. Recent studies demonstrate that democracies are just as prone to violence as other forms of government (Mearsheimer 1990; Cohen 1994; Spiro 1994; Macmillan 1996). ‘Democracy aims at the exclusion of violence, and theoretically should render violence unnecessary, since all groups and individuals should be able to express their views and interests through a process of rational deliberation. This is obviously not always the case’ (Schwarzmantel 2010:1)
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