Uganda Pentecostal University Logo

DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION: THE STUDY OF POST-THIRD WAVE DEMOCRATISATION IN GHANA AND NIGERIA

Authors
  • Moshood Saka

    Author

  • Adekunle Ademola Aminu

    Author

  • Ibrahim Sulley

    Author

Keywords:
Array, Array, Array, Array, Array
Abstract

The practice of democratic consolidation in Nigeria and Ghana is primarily based on performance of political system in the West African sub-region. While many studies have strongly affirmed this assertion, the incumbent political party and the opposition parties contested for power by election. Democratic consolidation is an institutional arrangement that reflects upon competition with the aim of changing leadership consistently in the political system. The opposition parties in each country have formed an alternative government (power) in the post-third wave democratization. Consequently, the assertion that the performance of the ruling party corroborates the practice in Nigerian and Ghana that the legitimacy of rulers usually depends on the extent to which the contestants meet the expectations of the voters determine who the vote for as their rulers. In this study, the qualitative research method is adopted. Ghana perfectly consolidated with little electoral challenges, while Nigerian is lagging behind due to inter and intra party crises that resulted in party disunity. The study finds that the practice of democratic consolidation requires electoral setting fashioned along the line of allowing peaceful changes in government where the people so wish. The study concluded that the politicians and electorates must allow democratic tenets to thrive; and recommended that African nations need in the present time to charter a course thet will allow democratization and guarantee development of genuine institution of democracy.

References

Afolayan, E.G. (2010). The Democratization Process in Ghana: Key Issues and Challenges: Participation, the State and the People. In, Democracy in the South, Participation, the State and the People: United Nations, University Press, Tokyo New York Paris

Aiyede, R.E, Erameh, N.I, and Orimolade, O. (2012). Institutional Framework of 2012 Elections in Ghana, Consolidation or Reversing Democratic Achievement, Journal of African Election, 12(2) 13-33 DOI: https://doi.org/10.20940/JAE/2013/v12i2a2

Ake, C (1992). Feasibility of Democracy in Africa, Keynote address at the symposium on Democratic Transition in Africa organised by Centre for Research, Documentation and University Exchange, University of Ibadan. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/books.ifra.3290

Aniekwe, C.C [2017]. Managing Electoral and Political Competition in Africa: Lesson from Ghana’s 2016 General Elections, Institute of Development Policy, University of Antwerp.

Asante, W and Asare, E.B. [2016]. Ghana’s 2012 Elections Petitions and its Outcome: A Giant Leap Towards Democratic Consolidation, Journal of Political Science and Public Affairs, 4(1) 1-6

Awopeju A. 2012. 2011 Presidential Election and the Political Participation in Nigeria. Canadian Social Science. Vol 8,No 2.pp.96-103.

Babayo, S and Sambo, U .(2020). The 2019 General Elecion and Politics of Inclusive Election in Nigeria: A Review of the Affected States. Khazarah Sosial. Volume 2 No 3. Pp. 105-124. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15575/ks.v2i3.9702

Bekoe, D. (2011). Nigeria’s 2011 Elections: Best Run but most violent. United State Institute of Peace

Botchway, T.P. (2018). Ghana: A Consolidated Democracy. Asian Research Journal of Arts & Social Sciences Vol.(4) pp. 1-13 DOI: https://doi.org/10.9734/ARJASS/2018/39713

Bowles, J and Marx, B (2012). Turnover and Accountability in Africa Parliament. Postdoctoral Fellow, King Centre and Global Development, Stanford University.

Bratton, M and Bhoodjedhur, S. (2019). Africans want Open Election-especially if they bring change. Afrobarometer

Bratton, M and Van de Walle, N. [1997]. Democratic Experiment in Africa Regime Transitions in Comparative Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bratton, M. [2008]. Voting Buying and Violence in Nigeria Campaigns.Afrobarometer Working Papers, No. 99.

Carter Centre [1999]. Observing the 1998-99 Nigeria Elections, National Democratic Institution for International Affairs, Washington DC.

Cho, W and Logon, C. (2009). Looking Toward the Future: Altanation in Power and Popular Perspectives on Democratic Durability in Africa. Afrobarometer 10 years

Cyllah, A. (2014). Elections Worth Dying For? A Selection of Case Studies from Africa. International Foundation for Electoral System. Washington DC

Dartey-Baah, K. (2014). Political Leadership in Ghana 1957 to 2010. African Journal of Political Science. Vol.9(2). Pp.49-61 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5897/AJPSIR2014.0730

Diamond, L. (1997). Introduction: In Search of Consolidation. In, Consolidating the Thid Wave Democracies Diamond, L. Plattner, FM. Chu Y. and Tien, H (edt). The John Hopkins University Press Baltimore London.

Egodi, U, Pat, U,O and Edlyine, A. (2010). Perspective on Leadership in Africa. Afro-Orbis Publishing Co.Limited. University of Nigeria Nsukka

Electoral Commission of Ghana [2005]. Elections 2004 Ghana’s Parliamentary and Presidential Election.Publisher O’MensGraphix, Accra

EU .[2003]. Nigeria President and Gubernatorial Elections 2003 also Covering the Delay and Repeated National Assembly Polls.

Huntington, P.S. [1991]. The Third Wave. Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

Hyden, G. (2006). African Politics in Comparative Perspective: University Press, Cambridge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511791079

INEC (2011). Report on the 2011 General Elections

IPI (2011). Election and Stability in West Africa. United Nation Plaza New York

Kambudzi, A. (2008). Turning Election into a Development Asset in Africa.ISS Paper 163. Institute for Security Studies.

Lamin, A. (2011). West African in Context: Elections and the Challenges of Democratic Governance. Journal of African Elections Special Issues, Volume 10, No 2. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20940/JAE/2011/v10i2a1

Maier, K. (2000). This House Has Fallen: Nigeria in Crisis. West view Press

Marrrison, K.C [2004]. Political Parties in Ghana Through Four Republic: A Path to Democratic Consolidation, JSTOR, 36 (4) 1-30 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/4150169

Monica, A. [2012]. The Role of Political Party in Democratic Governance of Nigeria: A Case Study of PDP. Caritas University Enugu: Faculty of Management and Social Science Department of Political Science.

Ndagwa N.S. (2001) A Decade of Democratic Development in Africa. Brill Academic Publishers, USA.

Nigeria Civil Society (2019). Report of Nigeria’s 2019 General Elections. Nigeria Civil Society Situationroom

Nigerian Civil Society [2015]. Report’s on Nigeria’s 2015 General Elections.

Ojo E. 2008. Nigeria’s General Elections and succession Crisis: Implication for the Nascent Democracy. Journal of African Elections.

Ojo E. 2008. Nigeria’s General Elections and succession Crisis: Implication for the Nascent Democracy. Journal of African Elections.

Okolie A.C. 2010. The 2007 General Elections in Nigeria: An Account of the Politics of Personal Rule in an African Country by former Presidential Aide.Published online: Springer Science+Business Media,LLC. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12114-010-9056-0

Okolo, B.S and Onunkwo, R.O. (2011). The 2011 Nigerian Election: An Empirical Review. Journal of African Election. Volume 10. No. 2. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20940/JAE/2011/v10i2a4

Oluwaseun, O.F. [2012]. Leadership and Political Parties Crisis in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic Parties: A Study f PDP and CAN, Asia-Pacific Journal of Social Sciences, Vol.4 No. 1,pp. 1-20.

Omotola S.J. 2010. Political Parties and Quest for Political Stability.Taiwan Jounal of Democraccy. Vol.6.No 2: pp.125-145

Otite A. 2012. Ethnic Militais Threat to Democracy and Security in Nigeria. Journal of A lternative Perspective in the Social Sciences.Vol.3. No.4.

Parku, S. [2014]. Who Says Ghana’s in Elections are Free and Fair? Afro-barometer.

Rawlence B. and Albin-Lackey C. 2007. Nigeria’s 2007 General Elections: Democrcy in Retreat.African Affairs, 106/424.pp.497-506. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adm039

Roceray,M and Byiers, B, (2019). Election in Africa-Playing the Game or Bending the Rule. ECDPM Discussion Paper.

Saliu, A.H. (2010). Democracy, Governance and International Relations. College Press and Publishers Limited, Lead City University.

Schedler, A. (1997). Concept of Democratic Consolidation. Institute of Advanced Studies Vienna Austria

Tar, U.A. (2009). The Politics of Neo-Liberal Democracy in Africa: London, New York. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9780755619139

Usman, A. Tar. (2010). The Challenges to Democracy and Democratisation in Africa and Middle East. Information, Society and Justice, Volume 3 No.2, July 2010: pp. 81-94

Whitefield, R. (2002). Democratisation Theory and Experience, Oxford: Oxford University Press

Yiryel, A.L. Wulifan, K.J. Bandie, B.D.R & Bagah, A.D. (2015). Multi-Party Democracy in Contemporary Ghana- The Electoral Process in Municipality. International Journal of Innovative Research and Development. Vol.4 (6)

Published
2025-04-17
Section
Article
License

Copyright (c) 2025 Uganda Pentecostal University Journal of Sustainable Development

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The Uganda Pentecostal University Journal of Sustainable Development (UPUJSD) is an open-access academic journal that provides a platform for research and discussion on various dimensions of sustainable development. The journal covers topics including but not limited to:

  • Sustainable agriculture and food security
  • Sustainable development and artificial intelligence
  • Renewable energy and environmental sustainability
  • Community development and social entrepreneurship
  • Climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies
  • Sustainable urban planning and infrastructure development
  • Gender equality and social inclusion in sustainable development initiatives
  • Sustainable development and the law
  • Aspects of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

All content published in UPUJSD is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Under this license:

  1. Attribution: Authors and publishers must be credited when the work is shared or cited.
  2. Non-Commercial: The material may not be used for commercial purposes.
  3. No Derivatives: If the material is remixed, transformed, or built upon, the modified material may not be distributed.

The license aims to promote knowledge sharing and collaboration while protecting the authors' original works.

For further details on the licensing terms or submission guidelines, contact us at:

How to Cite

DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION: THE STUDY OF POST-THIRD WAVE DEMOCRATISATION IN GHANA AND NIGERIA. (2025). Uganda Pentecostal University Journal of Sustainable Development, 1(1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.69612/upujsd-2025-11-010

Similar Articles

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.