scholarly journals Political Parties and National Integration in Emerging Democracies: A Focus on the Nigerian State

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 69-74
Author(s):  
S. M. Omodia
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Body Politic ◽  
National Development ◽  
Functional Theory ◽  
Emerging Democracies ◽  
National Integration ◽  
Democratic Culture ◽  
Political Analysis

Abstract Political Parties are Political institutions which are basically designed for power acquisition for the purpose of utilizing power for public good. In other words, political parties as agents of political development are expected not only to articulate and aggregate political interest but as a secondary group, political parties are expected to bring to their fold members from various ethnic background, class and religion for the purpose of galvanising them for national development. Thus, the concepts of people and integration are so central to the conception of leadership and organisation that defines political parties. This paper through the use of historical political analysis and the use of the structural-functional theory unfolds the activities of political parties in emerging democracies as regard the process cum pattern of mobilization for power acquisition and the utilization of such power for national development and integration. Based on the analysis, the deduction is that even though the leading political parties in Nigeria are national in outlook - both in party structure and membership, the parties are defective based on institutional weakness and the inability to provide functional check on party representative in government after utilizing the party to gain political offices. This is coupled with restrictive access to political offices through the zoning of such offices based on ethnic consideration, thereby fuelling ethnic identity in the Nigerian body - politic. The paper therefore views political parties as integrative mechanisms not only for deepening and widening democratic culture in emerging democracies but also as agents of national integration and development.

Colombian Parties and Political Development

1976 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Peeler
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Political System ◽  
Traditional Authority ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Authority Relationships ◽  
Latin American Countries

Colombia remains one of a very small group of countries in Latin America which retain competitive, liberal-democratic political institutions at this writing. Indeed, Colombia's civil government, recognizing a modicum of individual liberties and conducting periodic elections, has been shattered on relatively few occasions since the mid-nineteenth century, a record equalled or surpassed by few other Latin American countries. The Colombian political system is still dominated by the two traditional political parties (Liberal and Conservative) which arose in Colombia and elsewhere in the region in the nineteenth century. In almost every other country they have long since passed into oblivion or insignificance. This continued dominance by the traditional parties is commonly attributed to their successful mobilization of mass support, especially among the peasantry. The Colombian parties (unlike their counterparts elsewhere) early moved beyond being mere elite factions by using traditional authority relationships, clientelistic exchanges and ideological appeals to develop durable bases of mass support.

scholarly journals How to Analyze Islamist Politics: Is it possible to make a Political Study without Sociology of Islam?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Özgür Erden
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Capital Accumulation ◽  
Economic Structure ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
Political Movement ◽  
Political Analysis ◽  
Political Relations ◽  
The Social

This article embarks on making a political analysis of Islamist politics by criticizing the hegemonic approach in the field and considering a number of the institutions or structures, composing of either state and its ideological-repressive apparatuses, political parties and actors, intellectual leadership and ideology, and political relations, events, or facts in political sphere. The aforesaid approach declares that the social and economic factors, namely class position, capital accumulation, market, education, and culture, have been far better significative for a political study in examining any political movement, party, and fact or event. However, our study will more stress on political structures, events and struggles or conflicts produced and reproduced by the political institutions, the relationships and the processes in question. Taking into account all these, it will be argued that they have been more significant as compared to class position, capital accumulation, market in economic structure, or culture and education, in a political study.

Bureaucracy, Political Parties, and Political Development

1973 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 600-607
Author(s):  
Gerald A. Heeger
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Policy Making Process

The growing role of governmental bureaucracy has been one of the most noted and discussed characteristics of developing political systems. The phenomenon of bureaucratic intervention in politics, already discernible in the 1950's in many of these states, has, so it seems, become the rule rather than the exception in the years that have followed. Despite the prevalence of the politicized bureaucracy, however, and the amount of discussion engendered by the phenomenon, die sources of bureaucratic growth and dominance in the developing states remain obscure. Most analysts emphasize the superior organization of the bureaucracy and argue that this organization, reinforced by die transfer of techniques from abroad and uncontested because of weak indigenous political institutions, provides much of the explanation for the aggrandizement of the bureaucracy in die policy-making process.

scholarly journals Democratic Ruptures and Electoral Outcomes in Africa: Ghana's 2016 Election

2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
George M. Bob-Milliar ◽  
Jeffrey W. Paller
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Democratic Culture ◽  
Democratic Development ◽  
Electoral Outcomes ◽  
Party Realignment ◽  
2016 Election ◽  
Electoral Reforms

Repetitive elections are important benchmarks for assessing the maturity of Africa's electoral democracies. Yet the processes through which elections entrench a democratic culture remain understudied. We introduce an important mechanism called a democratic rupture: an infraction in the democratisation process during competitive elections that has the potential to cause a constitutional crisis. It provides a new avenue of citizen participation outside of voting, and political space for opposition party realignment and to strengthen its support. Drawing from the case of Ghana, we show how the 2012 presidential election petition challenge served as a democratic rupture by contributing to the opposition's victory in 2016, enabling its political development. First, it exposed flaws in the electoral system and led to demands for electoral reforms. Second, it led to citizens being better educated on the electoral process. Third, it taught political parties that vigilance at the polling stations can help win elections. The article provides a critical analysis of the factors that shape democratic development, especially in cases where opposition parties defeat incumbent politicians.

Political power in Yugoslavia

1967 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jovan Djordjević
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Political Organizations ◽  
Pressure Groups ◽  
Set Up ◽  
General Perspective

The institutional process is essentially an outcome and a reflection of political action. It is therefore understandable that political institutions have always interested not only political thinkers and politicians, but also those nations and groups which are struggling to set up, reorganize or abolish any given political institutions.Their importance lies, too, in the fact that they reflect fundamental political aspirations and relationships. They are more or less the true image of a political system and of the structure of a society at a given epoch. But when seen in a more general perspective, institutions are merely the framework of power, The complexity of and problems inherent in society, its permanent need for further material, cultural and political development have led to an expansion of the institutional structure of political society. This expansion is brought about by political organizations, especially by political parties, as well as by other organizations, such as trade unions, citizens’ associations, pressure groups, etc.

On the Advantages of a No-Party State

1972 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Okion Ojigbo
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
The Political ◽  
National Integration ◽  
Late Middle Ages ◽  
Western Government ◽  
History Of ◽  
Party State

One of the most important issues of political development and nation building in Africa is national integration. One major political institution which the new nations have employed in the pursuit of this goal is the political party. Ironically and unfortunately, political parties stand for division and cleavages. Thus as Seymour Lipset and Stein Rokkan have noted, in Cleavage Structures, Party Systems, and Voter Alignment: an introduction (Glencoe, 1967), ‘“Party” throughout the history of western government stood for division [my italics], conflict, opposition within a body polity. “Party” is etymologically derived from “part” and since it first appeared in political discourse in the late Middle Ages has always retained this reference to one set of elements in competition or in controversy with another set of elements within some unified whole’ (p. 3). These indeed have been the main characteristics of political parties in most parts of Africa. That is, most of them are fragmentary, and thus contribute to national disintegration rather than fostering national integration. In other words, many political parties in most African nations have not functioned efficiently for the good of their respective countries.

TRENDS AND PROSPECTS FOR THE EVOLUTION OF THE INSTITUTION OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN MODERN RUSSIA

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 87-95
Author(s):  
D.L. TSYBAKOV ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Party System ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Party Elites ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
State Bureaucracy ◽  
Soviet Russia ◽  
Post Industrial

The purpose of the article is to assess the nature of the evolution of the institution of political parties in post – Soviet Russia. The article substantiates that political parties continue to be one of the leading political institutions in the modern Russian Federation. The premature to recognize the functional incapacity of party institutions in the post-industrial/information society is noted. It is argued that political parties continue to be a link between society and state power, and retain the potential for targeted and regular influence on strategic directions of social development. The research methodology is based on the principles of consistency, which allowed us to analyze various sources of information and empirical data on trends and prospects for the evolution of the party system in the Russian Federation. As a result, the authors come to the conclusion that in Russian conditions the convergence of party elites with state bureaucracy is increasing, and there is a distance between political parties and civil society.

Diploma Democracy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Bovens ◽  
Anchrit Wille
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
University Graduates ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Organized Interests ◽  
Political Office ◽  
Political Meritocracy ◽  
Almost All

Lay politics lies at the heart of democracy. Political offices are the only offices for which no formal qualifications are required. Contemporary political practices are diametrically opposed to this constitutional ideal. Most contemporary democracies in Western Europe are diploma democracies—ruled by those with the highest formal qualifications. Citizens with low or medium educational qualification levels currently make up about 70 per cent of the electorates, yet they have become virtually absent from almost all political arenas. University graduates have come to dominate all relevant political institutions and venues, from political parties, parliaments and cabinets, to organized interests, deliberative settings, and internet consultations. This rise of a political meritocracy is part of larger trend. In the information society, educational background, like class, or religion, is an important source of social and political divides. Those who are well educated tend to be cosmopolitans, whereas the lesser educated citizens are more likely to be nationalists. This book documents the context, contours, and consequences of this rise of a political meritocracy. It explores the domination of higher educated citizens in political participation, civil society, and political office in Western Europe. It discusses the consequences of this rise of political meritocracy, such as descriptive deficits, policy incongruences, biased standards, and cynicism and distrust. Also, it looks at ways to remedy, or at least mitigate, some of the negative effects of diploma democracy.

Toward Islam Through Political Parties, Ideology, and Democracy: A Discourse Analysis on Turkey’s AK Party, Tunisian Ennahda, and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-51
Author(s):  
Md. Nazmul Islam ◽  
Yılmaz Bingöl ◽  
Israel Nyaburi Nyadera ◽  
Gershon Dagba
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Role Model ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Political Movement ◽  
The World ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
Democratic Principles ◽  
Islamic Political Parties

This article aims to examine the legacy and policy of AK Party in Turkey, Ennahda’s political movement in Tunisia, and Jamaat-e-Islami (BJI) in Bangladesh, which is ostensibly identified with Islamic political ideology and acquainted with the world as a ‘moderate-conservative political Islam party.’ The study interrogates the nature, processes, and the characteristic features of the three countries’ administrative system, comparatively from three regions of the world, particularly from the Middle East and Europe region, Africa and Arab region, and the South Asian region. This study also highlights these political parties’ history, political ideology differences, and their practices reflective of democratic principles from a theoretical perspective on politics, policy, and philosophy. It also acknowledges whether the political development of Turkey from 2002 onward is feasible for Bangladeshi and Tunisian Islamic political parties to accept as a role model in their political arena.

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