Ethnic party bans and institutional engineering in Nigeria

Matthijs Bogaards*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract (may include machine translation)

Nigeria is the African country that implemented ethnic party bans most systematically. At different points in time, a total of at least 64 parties has been denied registration for failing to demonstrate 'national presence'. Nigeria is also the African country with the longest record in institutional engineering. Ethnic party bans are one instrument in a broader repertoire of incentives for the creation of national parties that transcend the manifold socio-cultural differences. This article provides an overview of the often highly innovative ways in which successive Nigerian leaders, especially military, have sought to control the political organization of ethnicity in the process of democratization.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)730-749
Number of pages20
JournalDemocratization
Volume17
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2010
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Consociationalism
  • Democratization
  • Ethnicity
  • Nigeria
  • Political parties

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