The engagement of citizens in public affairs is the benchmark of the liberal democratic system. T... more The engagement of citizens in public affairs is the benchmark of the liberal democratic system. The availability of participation opportunities and the concomitant enabling processual and institutional prerequisites , allied with positive political orientations to the political system, make it possible for citizens to choose their leaders at elections and also influence the public policy process, and ultimately, the longevity of the democratic system of government. The thrust of this paper is therefore to empirically study the level of political participation and voting behavior of Nigerian citizens in the 2015 General Elections in Benue State. The paper accordingly aims to among other things investigate the role played by the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), in the mobilization of citizens for the General elections, the factors that induced citizens' participation as well as the level of conformity of the political behavior of the electorate with electoral guidelines. The paper also seeks to assess the extent to which participation and voting behavior contributed to the credibility and success of the polls. To this end, the study applies the procedural theory of democracy and the standard Socio-Economic model that postulates the factors that intermediate between actors and their ability to participate. A survey methodology has been adopted. The study concludes that effective political participation and the voting behavior of citizens tantamount the effectiveness of the political process and it is thus recommended amongst other things that for political stability to be maintained, the electoral process must be accommodating, and allow for expression of the electoral freedom of the people as well as giving cognizance to the socioeconomic wellbeing of the people.
The engagement of citizens in public affairs is the benchmark of the liberal democratic system. T... more The engagement of citizens in public affairs is the benchmark of the liberal democratic system. The availability of participation opportunities and the concomitant enabling processual and institutional prerequisites , allied with positive political orientations to the political system, make it possible for citizens to choose their leaders at elections and also influence the public policy process, and ultimately, the longevity of the democratic system of government. The thrust of this paper is therefore to empirically study the level of political participation and voting behavior of Nigerian citizens in the 2015 General Elections in Benue State. The paper accordingly aims to among other things investigate the role played by the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), in the mobilization of citizens for the General elections, the factors that induced citizens' participation as well as the level of conformity of the political behavior of the electorate with electoral guidelines. The paper also seeks to assess the extent to which participation and voting behavior contributed to the credibility and success of the polls. To this end, the study applies the procedural theory of democracy and the standard Socio-Economic model that postulates the factors that intermediate between actors and their ability to participate. A survey methodology has been adopted. The study concludes that effective political participation and the voting behavior of citizens tantamount the effectiveness of the political process and it is thus recommended amongst other things that for political stability to be maintained, the electoral process must be accommodating, and allow for expression of the electoral freedom of the people as well as giving cognizance to the socioeconomic wellbeing of the people.
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