Democracy has, without a doubt, become the most visible form of government. In most countries of the world today, democracy has become the choice of the people. Based on the premise that it is the most suitable form of representative government, democracy, from its tiny birthplace of Athens, Greece, has spread across the globe like a wildfire engulfing the atmosphere. The phenomenon of democracy, which scholars opined can address societal oppression. Though various opinions exist that for democracy to achieve its purpose, its operators must understand some dilemmas that require constant management for democracy to survive. These dilemmas resulted in what is called “polarities of democracy.”
TopOn Elections
Elections have been a vital tool deployed to harness the choice of people who represent the mass populace in the art of governance. It is the cardinal tool to showcase a democratic regime to the world. Although several undemocratic and autocratic regimes have used the instrument of elections to legitimize their illegal rule, yet election is meant to help the people of a state to have a say, however small in the politics and governance of their localities (Aluko, 2020; Przeworski, 2022; Manwaring & Holloway, 2022).
Again, elections vary in many degrees from country to country. The process is seamless in some countries, and outcomes are often accepted in good faith. In so many others, elections are characterized by chaotic phenomena divided into three; pre-election, Election Day, and Post Election crises. These crises include; campaigns of calumny by political parties, the assassination of aspirants, poor logistics and planning by the electoral body, Election Day violence, bribery, ballot stuffing, electorate disenfranchisement, unauthorized election victory declaration, inconclusive election declaration, multiple or inaccurate votes counting unbridled propaganda, and some untoward conduct that trigger the inquisition as to if democracy is the last hope of humankind or if we should seek a suitable form of governance (Cohen et al., 2023).
Notwithstanding the above, the fact remains that democracy today has attained some acceptability and attractiveness that it is not out of place to seek to interrogate the impacts of some negative phenomena that are fast creeping their heads into the practice of a representative form of government, ably represented by democracy (Fowler & Montagnes, 2023).
Therefore, in this book, we have explored many aspects of these somewhat occurrences that seek to undermine the principle of democracy as a result of these awkward practices and negative tendencies as they continue to grow in leaps and bounds. If these occurrences do not abate, will democracy continue to stand, or will it reach the point of contradiction again, where everything, as we know it today, may fade away? If democracy abates, what do we do to ensure that some untoward practices do not undermine the fundamental principles of representative government?
Nigeria, for instance, has witnessed a plethora of election violence right from her independence from colonial rule. Though the impact and strength of electoral violence from place to place, its preponderance in some geographical regions can hardly be overemphasized. Many people, especially contestants and their supporters, have come to understand or pretend that occupying position is a matter of life and death. So, it is no longer surprising that quite often, when the results do not go their way, they result in some form of violence.
Several election campaigns have been characterized by violent disruptions in certain bizarre circumstances (Hassan, 2023). When opponents are perceived to be gaining some upper hand in some areas of influence, the disruptors suddenly surface and create panicky situations. These occurrences are often reciprocated with more virulent counterattacks, creating an eternal cycle of violence disruptions during campaigns, election days, and post-results announcements. This ugly phenomenon is undoubtedly antithetical to the expectations of democracy's capability to mitigate oppression, and neither does it affirm the eulogized concept of people representation that democracy justifies.