Dilemmas of democracy in Nigeria / edited by Paul A. Beckett and Crawford Young.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Beckett, Paul, 1938-

Young, Crawford, 1931-2020

Series:

Rochester studies in African history and the diaspora 1092-5228 ; v. 2.

[Rochester studies in African history and the diaspora, 1092-5228 ; v. 2]

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Democracy--Nigeria.

Democracy.

Nigeria.

Nigeria--Politics and government--1984-.

Politics and government.

Physical Description:

xiv, 450 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Rochester, NY, USA : University of Rochester Press, 1997.

Summary:

No African country has tried so hard, or so long, to create a lasting democratic system as has Nigeria. But success has been elusive. Political transition to democracy, under the auspices of a series of authoritarian military governments, has been so prolonged, and so lacking in outcome, as to seem itself a form of government: a system of "permanent transition". Vast sums of money, and an increasing number of Nigeria lives, have been sacrificed in the struggle of over more than 20 years to achieve lasting democratic government. The more intangible costs--to Nigerians' sense of participation in the idea of Nigeria, to the relations among and between the country's complex moasic of ethnicities, religions, and regions, and to Nigeria's international relations--have been incalculable. Increasingly the dilemma of democracy has become the axis around which all of Nigeria's public questions--including that of continued existence as one country--revolve.

This book offers an innovative, multidisciplinary study of the historical, social, and economic roots of both the effort and the failure to create democracy in Nigeria. Two major episodes of transition to democracy (both ultimately unsuccessful) are studied in detail, as are the ingenious provisions of Nigeria's three democratic constitutions. New interpretations of the patterns of regional and ethnic interaction and conflict are developed, as is a fascinating view of the inter-relation between military rule and resurgent religious strife. The outlooks--for democracy, for internal peace, for continued national existence--are assessed.

This book presents the analyses of 13 of Nigeria's best political analysts, as well as the perspectives ofsix American scholars whose work on Nigeria is well-known and in some cases spans the whole period of Nigerian independence.y

Notes:

Series statement from jacket.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1878822985

OCLC:

36961022