scholarly journals Democratic consolidation, fiscal responsibility and national development: An appraisal of the fourth republic

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-106
Author(s):  
Adewale YAGBOYAJU
Keyword(s):  
National Development ◽  
Democratic Consolidation ◽  
Fiscal Responsibility ◽  
Fourth Republic

scholarly journals Refractory Frontier: Intra-party Democracy in the Zambian Polity

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
John Bwalya ◽  
Owen B. Sichone
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Party ◽  
National Development ◽  
Democratic Consolidation ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Leadership Positions ◽  
Leadership Transitions ◽  
Party Members ◽  
Selection Of

Despite the important role that intra-party democracy plays in democratic consolidation, particularly in third-wave democracies, it has not received as much attention as inter-party democracy. Based on the Zambian polity, this article uses the concept of selectocracy to explain why, to a large extent, intra-party democracy has remained a refractory frontier. Two traits of intra-party democracy are examined: leadership transitions at party president-level and the selection of political party members for key leadership positions. The present study of four political parties: United National Independence Party (UNIP), Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), United Party for National Development (UPND) and Patriotic Front (PF) demonstrates that the iron law of oligarchy predominates leadership transitions and selection. Within this milieu, intertwined but fluid factors, inimical to democratic consolidation but underpinning selectocracy, are explained.

scholarly journals Democracy in Reverse: The 2016 General Election in Zambia

2016 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 107-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Goldring ◽  
Michael Wahman
Keyword(s):  
National Development ◽  
Democratic Consolidation ◽  
Historical Record ◽  
General Election ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
National Assembly ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
Incumbent Party ◽  
Local Councillors

On 11 August 2016, Zambia held elections for the presidency, National Assembly, local councillors, and mayors. Concurrently, a referendum was held on whether to enhance the Bill of Rights in the Constitution of Zambia. The elections were significant for several reasons: It was the first contest under a newly amended Constitution, which introduced important changes to the electoral framework. It also marked a break with Zambia's positive historical record of arranging generally peaceful elections. Moreover, the election featured an electoral playing field that was notably tilted in favour of the incumbent party. Ultimately, the incumbent president, Edgar Lungu of the Patriotic Front, edged out opposition challenger Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development. The election was controversial and the opposition mounted an unsuccessful legal challenge to the final results. The 2016 elections represent a reversal in the quality of Zambian democracy and raise questions about the country's prospects for democratic consolidation.

scholarly journals Electoral Violence and Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria: Issues and Challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 140-156
Author(s):  
Deinibiteim M. Harry ◽  
Samuel B. Kalagbor
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Data ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Democratic Consolidation ◽  
Appropriate Technology ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Electoral Violence ◽  
State Fragility ◽  
Fourth Republic ◽  
Electoral Reforms

The study examined the effects of electoral violence on the democratization efforts and democratic consolidation in Nigeria since the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1999. The nation’s elections, at all levels of governance, are characterized by violence. Violence mar as high as 70 percent of Nigerian elections resulting in deaths, destruction of properties, maiming, etc. Successive governments have made frantic efforts to institutionalize and consolidate democracy in the country, embarking on various electoral reforms with little or no result with respect to curbing electoral violence. Thus, the main objective of this study is to show that the high rate of electoral violence witnessed over the years has weakened and discredited the democratic consolidation drive of the Nigerian state. The theoretical framework adopted in this study is the “State Fragility Theory”. However, the author’s modified version of “State Compromise Theory” was used to analyze the nature, character and reasons for electoral violence in Nigeria and its effects on the institutionalization of democracy in the country. The study used both primary and secondary data. The primary data were mainly drawn from mainly the authors’ observations during elections, over the years, while secondary data were drawn from existing literature on the subject matter. The study revealed that the pervasive violence at different elections has greatly discredited and emasculated democratic governance in the country. Violence has become both physical and cathartic. It manifests in form of wanton shooting by political thugs to intimidate voters and electoral officials, so as to snatch election materials, disruption of voting, vote suppression, cancellation and annulment of elections in opposition strongholds, etc.  The paper concluded that, to ensure the consolidation of democracy in Nigeria, election management bodies must adopt an electoral system that drastically reduces congregation of people at a voting point(s) so as to reduce violence. Some of the recommendations are that election management bodies should deploy appropriate technology to reduce congregation of people at a voting point, transmission of results should be done electronically to minimize human involvement, contacts error and manipulations.

scholarly journals The Implications of the Legislative Corrupt Practices on the Democratic Consolidation in the Nigeria’s Fourth Republic

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusuf Abdu Yusuf ◽  
◽  
Kamarul Zaman Haji Yusoff ◽  
Knocks Tapiwa Zengeni ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Consolidation ◽  
Fourth Republic

DEMOCRACY AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA’S FOURTH REPUBLIC: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-166
Author(s):  
Moses M. Adagbabiri ◽  
Ugo C. Okolie
Keyword(s):  
Good Governance ◽  
National Development ◽  
Good Prospect ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Probabilistic Sampling ◽  
Correlation And Regression Analysis ◽  
The People ◽  
Fourth Republic ◽  
Good Government ◽  
Heterogeneous Societies

As a theory that sets some basic principles according to which a good government, whatev-er its form, must be run, democracy offers a good prospect for achieving national develop-ment of especially heterogeneous societies. The common feature of democratic governance is its emphasis on improving the socio-economic welfare of the people and this is synony-mous with the idea of national development. All over the world, democracy is prioritized because it is assumed to have the magic wand to effectively deal with inter and intragroup conflicts arising from the democratic method. But the Nigerian experience with democracy is not very pleasant. While ethnoreligious violence is rife in the politics, the economy remains on its kneel with abject poverty as a recurring decimal among the people. The popular expectations, that democracy will resolve all these challenges have largely been unattained. Therefore, it is against this backdrop, that this study explored the effect of democracy on national development in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. A descriptive method was adopted and cross-sectional data were collected across the twenty-five Local Govern-ment Areas in Delta State with the aid of a structured questionnaire. Non- probabilistic sampling techniques comprising of purposeful and convenience techniques were used to elicit information via questionnaire from 400 respondents. Data were analyzed using Pear-son product-moment correlation and regression analysis. The result of the study revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between democracy and national development in Nigeria’s fourth republic. Thus, the study recommends among others that the political leaders should adhere to the basic tenets of democracy and constitutionalism to promote good governance and foster national development.

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