| Contemporary Nigerian Politics: Competition in a Time of Transition and Terror Contributor(s): Levan, A. Carl (Author) |
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ISBN: 1108472494 ISBN-13: 9781108472494 Publisher: Cambridge University Press OUR PRICE: $105.45 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: March 2019 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Political Science | American Government - General - Political Science | Political Process - Campaigns & Elections |
| Dewey: 324.966 |
| LCCN: 2018039008 |
| Physical Information: 0.8" H x 7.6" W x 9.2" (1.20 lbs) 300 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In 2015, Nigeria's voters cast out the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). Here, A. Carl LeVan traces the political vulnerability of Africa's largest party in the face of elite bargains that facilitated a democratic transition in 1999. These 'pacts' enabled electoral competition but ultimately undermined the party's coherence. LeVan also crucially examines the four critical barriers to Nigeria's democratic consolidation: the terrorism of Boko Haram in the northeast, threats of Igbo secession in the southeast, lingering ethnic resentments and rebellions in the Niger Delta, and farmer-pastoralist conflicts. While the PDP unsuccessfully stoked fears about the opposition's ability to stop Boko Haram's terrorism, the opposition built a winning electoral coalition on economic growth, anti-corruption, and electoral integrity. Drawing on extensive interviews with a number of politicians and generals and civilians and voters, he argues that electoral accountability is essential but insufficient for resolving the representational, distributional, and cultural components of these challenges. |
Contributor Bio(s): Levan, A. Carl: - A. Carl LeVan is Associate Professor at the American University in Washington, DC. His is the author of Dictators and Democracy in African Development: The Political Economy of Good Governance in Nigeria (Cambridge, 2015), co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Nigerian Politics (2018), as well as various articles on Boko Haram, civil society, Abuja's development, and authoritarianism. He also worked as a technical trainer for Nigeria's National Assembly during the 1999 transition. LeVan's other publications include the co-authored Constituents before Assembly (Cambridge, 2017), which demonstrates the benefits of participatory constitution-making worldwide. He has published articles on power-sharing, constitution-making, African cabinet size, and the US military in Africa. |