ROLE OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIAN DEMOCRACY
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ROLE OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIAN DEMOCRACY
CHAPITRE ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of The Study
Political parties are essential to the political process in modern societies. They have evolved into a genuine instrument or auxiliary of democracy in every democratic nation. Political parties are not only vehicles for the accumulation of interests and the eventual fulfilment of such interests through government control; they are also vehicles for the accumulation of interests and the ultimate satisfaction of such interests through government control (Merkel, 1977).
Without a question, political parties are critical to the survival of democratic government. According to Ajayi (2005), the freedom with which political parties collect, express, represent, and organise determines the amount of responsibility in public life,
including access to and use of power. Political parties are generally necessary for democratic administration. It is an essential instrument for democratic governance. It offers a manner of developing responsibility, collaborative action, public involvement,
inclusion, legitimacy, and accountability through the fusion of their competing ideas, ideologies, and aspirations for ultimate control of the government in the state. Political parties act as a go-between, mediating disputes between citizens and government employees and agencies.
With its goals of elected representation, freedom of choice of leaders, rule of law, freedom of speech, and accountability, democratic administration has become the world’s most popular type of government. It is a form of government in which the ultimate authority of a political community is based on popular sovereignty.
According to oyovbaire (1987), democracy is a form of government that seeks to achieve a generally recognised common good through the collective initiation and discussion of policy issues concerning public affairs, as well as the delegation of authority to agents to carry out the people’s broad decisions reached by majority vote.
Democracy has been described in contemporary times as the expression of the political community’s public will through elected representatives. According to Raphael (1976),
the cornerstone of modern democracy is representational governance. Nigerian democratic government has been distinctive in comparison to what is offered in other regions of the world.
The fundamental aspects of democracy, such as respect for human rights and the rule of law, are absent, notably between 1999 and 2007; election fraud and gangsterism are so prevalent that distinguishing between democratic and autocratic governments is impossible (Osaghae, 2002).
In Nigeria, political parties are frequently formed on ethnic, cultural, geopolitical, and religious bases. As a result, the political class has always been lacking of a sustainable political philosophy on which the nation’s political future may be based in everyday government actions like racial sensitivity and overt projection of other selfish political impulses.
As a result, the political class has always been short of viable political ideologies on which to base the nation’s political future. Due to a lack of philosophy and vision, party politics has been reduced to a bread-and-butter game in which commercialization of the political process is the basis of loyalty and support.
As a result, the objective of the democratic system has been diminished.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The establishment of democratic administration in Nigeria’s political system in 1999 represented a watershed moment in the country’s political history. After fifteen years of tyranny, civil society, labour unions, civil rights organisations, and others hailed the re-modeling of democracy with excitement and peagentry (Agarwal,1994).
There was a lot of hope in the area of human rights, which had been essentially non-existent during the dictatorship’s reign. Political parties, which are the vehicles through which politicians engage with the public and make their pledges and
manifestos available to them, were designed to accomplish the democratic dividend. As a result, the focus of this research is on political parties and their role in the evolution of Nigeria’s democracy.
1.3 Aim of The study
The study’s principal goal is as follows:
To assess the elements that contributed to the formation of political parties in Nigeria.
To look into the difficulties that political parties confront in contributing to the growth of Nigerian democracy.
To discover the reasons behind the formation of political parties.
To investigate solutions for strengthening Nigeria’s democracy.
1.4 Research Questions
For this study, the following questions have been prepared:
1) What circumstances contributed to the formation of political parties in Nigeria?
2) What are the difficulties that political parties confront in contributing to the growth of Nigerian democracy?
3) What are the motivations for the formation of political parties?
4) What are some ways for strengthening Nigeria’s democracy?
1.5 Significance of the research
This research focuses on political parties and their significance in the evolution of democracy in Nigeria. As a result, the study is significant because it will relate the immense value to Nigerian political leaders and policymakers,
as well as enlighten and educate the masses on the responsibility of parties in democratic governance; it will go a long way in providing practical solutions to some of the problems of political parties in Nigeria’s democratic system.
The study is also important to the academic community because it will add to the existing literature.
1.6 Scope of The Study
The research will look at the causes that contributed to the formation of political parties in Nigeria. The research will also look into the difficulties that political parties confront in contributing to the growth of Nigerian democracy.
The study will delve deeper into the reasons for the formation of political parties. Finally, the research will look into measures for strengthening Nigeria’s democracy. As a result, the study will be limited to Nigeria.
1.7 Limitations of the Study
A variety of difficulties hampered this investigation, which are as follows:
just like any other research, from a lack of needed precise materials on the issue under study to an inability to obtain data
The researcher faced financial constraints in obtaining essential materials as well as printing and collating surveys.
Time limitation: Another constraint is time, which makes it difficult for the researcher to juggle between producing the research and engaging in other academic activity.
1.8 Definitions of terms
A political party is an organisation that organises candidates to run in elections in a certain country.
Democracy: a form of government in which the entire population or all eligible members of a state govern themselves, generally through elected representatives.
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