Challenges of Sustaining Democracy in a Divided Society

By

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would take this opportunity to thank my research supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this research would not have been possible.

DECLARATION

I [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

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ABSTRACT

In this study we try to explore the concept of “democracy” in a holistic context. The main focus of the research is on “democratic governance in Nigeria”. The research also analyzes many aspects of “Democratic governments” and different challenges faced in sustaining a “democratic government” in “Nigeria”. It covers different aspects of democracy and provides a description about various forms of democracies. The research gives an idea of the role played by the democracy in divided society. In addition to this, the first two chapters cover the scenario of democratic government in Nigeria. It explains that even though, Nigeria has been practicing democracy since 1999, he political and election process contains a lot of problems with numerous irregularities starting from snatching of ballot box, harassment of political opponents, permeable electoral activities and a lot more. Additionally, the research covers the aspect of instability in the Nigerian government and different problems faced by the government and citizen of Nigeria. It research explains that there is a common perception developed in the state, which is used as an instrument for accumulating the wealth among the elite politicians. This highly influence and has a negative impact on the welfare of the citizens. The research details that every citizen has political rights but not all citizens have the same opportunity to utilize their rights. In other words, people of the state lack the essence of exercising those rights. The research also explains the methodology that has been used in order to conduct research. It explains why the reason for choosing that particular methodology and how that methodology will help in our research. Furthermore, the last chapter contains a conceptual analysis of the research that has been conducted through the secondary data.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTii

DECLARATIONiii

ABSTRACTiv

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

1.1 Research Background1

1.2 Research Questions3

1.3 Rationale3

1.4 Methodology4

1.5 Limitations5

1.6 Outline of the Study5

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW7

2.1 Democracy7

2.2.1 Electoral Democracy9

2.2.2 Deliberative Democracy9

2.2.3 Constitutional Democracy10

2.3 Democracy in divided societies10

2.4 Democracy in Nigeria12

2.5 Unstable Democracy and Problems in Nigeria13

2.6 Violence- a threat to Democracy16

REFERENCES19

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Democracy can hardly flourish in a violent and unrest society. In Nigerian case, transition from military rule to democracy was accompanied with high levels of internal crisis, particularly ethnic conflict and religious crisis. The topic of this research was designed to explore the relationship between democracy and divided society, using Nigeria as a case study. With so many critics predicting that Nigeria may seize to exist as a nation in next few years, hence, the research becomes an imperative study; to examine the claims and the ...