South Asian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities
Year: 2020 (Oct), Volume: (1), Issue. (2)
First page: (1) Last page: (15)
Online ISSN: 2582-7065
doi:
Internal Party Democracy and Institutionalization of Political Parties in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic
Alfa Patrick Innocent1, Kamarul Zaman Haji Yusoff2 and Otaida Eikojonwa3 1Department of Social Science and Humanities, The Federal Polytechnic, Idah, Nigeria.
2School of International Studies,Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia
3Department of Political Science, Federal University Dutsin Ma, Katsina State, Nigeria
Corresponding Author: Alfa Patrick Innocent, Email: alfaintellectual@gmail.com.
Online Published on 02-October-2020
ABSTRACT
This paper interrogates the connection between the level of internal party democracy which exists in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic political parties and their propensity to become institutionalised. The objective is to unravel the reason for their inability to make effective contribution the deepening of democracy in the country. The paper is descriptive and conceptual. It got insights from secondary data which includes journal articles, national dailies, internet, magazines and textbooks. The data gathered were analysed under various themes. The paper contends that Nigeria’s Fourth Republic political parties do not adhere to the tenets of internal party democracy, thus undermining the prospects of their institutionalisation and negates the performance of their democratic functions. The paper offers valuable suggestions that could enhance the level of internal party democracy in the parties, propel them towards institutionalisation and most fundamentally contribute optimally to the consolidation of democracy in the Fourth Republic and beyond.
Keywords
Internal party democracy, political parties, Democratic consolidation, Fourth Republic, Nigeria.