| |
| author |
Peace Oyekola
| | title |
Elite Bargaining: The Glue That Holds Nigeria's Democracy Together
| | abstract |
Nigeria is a unique case in the study of democracy because it seems that there is so very
little holding it together; as a country, let alone a democratic one. With the history of
Nigeria riddled with military regimes interrupting its democracy, the abundance of oil and
the resource curse that it comes with, and the weak democratic institutions in the country,
a lot is fighting against it being a democracy. However, Nigeria just celebrated twenty-one
years of interrupted democracy. This is because the country's political elites use democracy
to bargain amongst themselves and find it more beneficial than authoritarian regimes such
as a military rule to getting their share of the 'national cake. I argue in this paper that while
the ethnic tensions of the country continues to be a reality as seen in the history of Nigeria
and the mismanagement of the oil resource in country, democracy has managed to survive
in the country since 1999 and democracy holds its survival to elite bargaining as seen
through the lenses of the system of presidentialism and two party system.
| | school |
The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University
| | degree |
B.A. (2021)
|
| advisor |
Jason Jordan
|
| committee |
Phoebe Mengxiao Tang
Rita Keane
|
| full text | POyekola.pdf |
| |
