Levitsky on how Democracies Die: Is Nigeria’s Democracy Dead?

Democratic governance is considered a system of government in which power resides with the citizens, either directly or indirectly, through elected representatives. Nigeria has had uninterrupted civilian governance since 1999. Nevertheless, this period has been characterised by the deterioration of democratic standards, as state institutions have been politicised, dissent uppressed, the judiciary compromised, electoral malpractices have increased, and political parties have weakened considerably. Political parties have enabled such a decline by failing to provide ideologically based opposition. Thus, this paper examined the health status and resilience of democratic practice in Nigeria, vis-à-vis Levitsky and Ziblatt’s classic, How emocracies Die. Through an empirical evaluation of adherence to democratic principles in Nigeria, the authors sought to ascertain whether Nigeria’s democracy is consolidating or weakening. The qualitative method was adopted, with data collected mainly from secondary sources. Findings revealed that Nigeria’s democracy is not dead, rather, it is critically weakened by political parties, mainly due to party members switching allegiances for personal aggrandisement. The study recommended, among other things, strict enforcement of laws requiring elected officials to forfeit their positions if they defect from the party that sponsored their election. It concluded that Nigeria’s democracy is on life support and risks collapse if political parties do not adopt and commit to clear ideological foundations as a defining feature of their formation and membership.