Political parties and democratic growth in Nigeria: Insights from the people’s democratic party
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Date
2017
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Department of Political Science, IBBU Lapai, Niger State
Abstract
While the constitutions of most democracies, developing and developed do not statutorily stipulate the functions and roles of political parties, political parties remain central and significant to the workings of any democratic polity. The centrality of political parties to democracy can be located in the critical roles and functions they perform in consolidating democracy. The extent to which they perform these functions however, particularly in nascent democracies has been a source of concern. The perception is that political parties may have not been performing these functions to expectation. This paper examines the role of political parties in a democracy. The major objectives of this paper are to undertake a critical evaluation of the nexus between political parties and democracy and review the roles of the Peoples Democratic Party in Nigeria’s nascent democracy. Using secondary data analysed through the historical qualitative method it was discovered that Nigerian political are not adequately institutionalised in the country’s political system. Thus, they have not impacted positively on the democratization process. It is however, recommended among others that there is the need for political parties to imbibe and observe democratic principles in governance process.
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Keywords
Democracy, political parties, Democratic consolidation, Peoples Democratic Party