Fourteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

The return to democratic governance in Nigeria in 1999 held the promise that citizens would leverage elections to choose candidates and political parties with policy proposals that would appeal to the broad aspirations of the public. Democratic representation is predicated on campaign promises by candidates and parties that are designed to lure voters to conferring representative mandate on politicians. Elections are therefore in a liberal democratic tradition considered as a veritable means of citizenship participation and inclusion in governance. Once elected, representatives are then bound to actualize the promises made and in turn are responsible to citizens for effective governance. This process is activated by normative persuasion. Results of empirical studies in Nigeria reveal that electoral campaigns are hardly driven by policy articulations by candidates and parties suggesting that voters and politicians’ interest do not necessarily coincide. Besides, manipulated elections exclude majority of citizens from the democratic and governance process. ‘Elected’ politicians are therefore not motivated by the desire to be reelected based on the quality of representation and responsibilities rendered hence are less concerned about the credibility of their future promises. To the rescue is citizens’ vigilance activated through sustained public engagement by a virile and progressive ideologue civil society on the essence of elections as a participatory and inclusive democratic strategy which promises to strengthen electoral processes for democratic accountability, representation, and responsibility in governance.