AP Comparative Government Chapter 8: Nigeria
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matthewpic on May 12, 2012
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Chapter 8 Nigeria
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126 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Contrasts | basis for political system, strong democracy movements coupled with susceptibility to totalitarian military rule, vast resources but 60% live in poverty, lack of coherent national identity |
| National Question | neither leaders nor citizens agree on the basics of how a country should be run, no one knows if Nigeria should even remain a country, regional disagreements magnify the problem |
| Constitutionalism | the acceptance of a constitution as a guiding set of principles, hasn't come to Nigeria, first one written in 1914, eight more have been written, the last one introduced in 1999 and amended heavily since |
| Legitimacy | Nigeria is relatively young, establishing it is very difficult, has strong impulses toward fragmentation, has many examples of ethnic conflicts, economic exploitation, use of military force, MILITARY plays large part, currently very low, many citizens have no trust, military rule had no rule of law, people question why they should pay taxes, etc. |
| Fragmentation | the tendency to fall apart along ethnic, regional and religious lines |
| Goodluck Jonathan | current president of Nigeria, elected in 2010 |
| Ibrahim Babangida | General, ruled from 1985-1993, CORRUPT |
| Sani Abacha | General, ruled from 1993-1998, CORRUPT |
| Sharia | important source of legitimacy in the north, especially since fall of military rule in 1999, became public law rather than just influencing private sectors, compromise between dictates of faith and realities of modern life, programs to send daughters to school |
| 1999 | fall of military rule |
| Hisbah | a police force charged with enforcing Islamic morality |
| "Failure of Leadership" | Chinua Achebe, trouble with Nigeria, 2007 corrupt election reinforced it |
| Pre-Colonial Era | 800-1860, transportation and communication were easier, north provided government to coordinate irrigation of crops, trade connections, early influence of Islam, kinship-based politics, complex political identities, democratic impulses |
| Trade Connections | Pre-Colonial, Niger River and access to ocean allowed contact with other civilization |
| Early Influence of Islam | Pre-Colonial, trade with north put early Hausa in contact with Arabic education, replaced traditional customs, all citizens subordinate |
| Kinship-Based Politics | Pre-Colonial, political organization didn't go much farther than the local level, villages composed of extended families, contrasts with larger states in north |
| Complex Political Identities | Pre-Colonial, contrast between centralized state and local governance is far from clear cut |
| Democratic Impulses | Pre-Colonial, tradition goes back a long time from Democracy, rulers were expected to seek advice and govern in interest of people |
| Colonial Era | 1860-1960 Nigeria came under it later than most countries, still important consequences, much less time to develop a national identity and political stability |
| Authoritarian Rule | Colonial, British ruled indirectly by leaving chiefs in charge of government, traditional chiefs were only accountable to the British, loosened responsibilities of chiefs to the people |
| Interventionist State | Colonial, chiefs operated government in order to reach economic goals, expectation that citizens should passively accept the actions of their rulers |
| Individualism | Colonial, capitalism and western political though emphasize important of individual, chiefs thought about personal benefits of governance |
| Christianity | Colonial, British brought religion with them, spread throughout the south and west, introduction of Christianity created a split between Christian and Muslim dominated areas |
| Intensification of Ethnic Policies | Colonial, ethnic identities broadened into three groups, occurred because British pitted groups against each other, anti-colonial movement developed |
| Post-Colonial Era | 1960 to present, Nigeria struggled to make parliamentary style of government work, then settled into military dictatorship by 196 |
| Parliamentary to Presidential | Post-Colonial, 1960 to 1979 had a parliamentary system, 1979 switched to popularly-elected president, separate legislature, and independent judiciary |
| Intensification of Ethnic Conflict | Post-Colonial, coalition formed between two groups, turned against another group, used military tactics to gain power, etc. |
| Military Rule | Post-Colonial, military ruler justified authority by announcing his intention to end violence and stop political corruption, killed in a coup |
| Personalized Rule/Corruption | Post-Colonial, native leaders lost touch with communal traditions, individuals translated personal desires for gain into their own interests, |
| Federalism | Post-Colonial, Nigerian leaders set up a federalist system, some powers delegated to state and local governments, power was shared but not really |
| Economic Dependence on Oil | Post-Colonial, Nigeria's good fortune has been a liability for political and economic stability, oil reserves only made leaders corrupt, other sectors of economy ignored |
| Patron-Clientelism | Nigeria, China, Mexico, practice of exchanging political and economic favors among patrons and clients, almost always accompanied by corruption, patrons builds loyalty among clients by granting them favors, invite corruption |
| State-Control/Rich Civil Society | formal and informal ethnic and religious associations, professional and labor groups, other NGOs have long shaped society, relate mainly through CORPORATISM and clientelism, potentially could form base of a viable democracy |
| Tension between Modernity and Tradition | Nigeria's past has encouraged strong, modern nation, restricted its ability to reach that goal, values of independence led to pre-colonial ideas again, created a clash |
| Religious Conflict | Christianity arrived much later, spread rapidly through missionaries, difference between sharia and christians |
| Geographic Influences | West Africa, bordered by Gulf of Guinea, population of 140 million is greater than all of West Africa combined |
| Northwest | dominated by Hausa-Fulani, MUSLIM |
| Northeast | home to smaller groups, MUSLIM, Kanuri |
| Middle Belt | area contains smaller ethnic groups, characterized by a mix of Muslims and Christians |
| Southwest | large ethnic group called Yoruba, 40% Muslim, 40% Christian, 20% native religions |
| Southeast | area is inhabited by Igbo, primarily Roman Catholic |
| Southern Zone | includes delta of Niger River, belong to various small minority groups |
| Pre-Colonial Era | change occurred through cultural diffusion, diffusion of Islam, slow and gradual change, led to jihad, much contact with European traders |
| Cultural Diffusion | contact with and spread of customs and beliefs of other people |
| Jihad | Islamic holy war |
| Sokoto Caliphate | a Muslim state that encompassed the entire northwest, etc. |
| Colonial Era | 1860 British imposed indirect rule, established it as a trading outlet for natural resources and cheap labor, North's government remained intact, political changes gave more power to elites, etc. |
| Modern Nigeria | 1960 transition to "prepare" Nigerians to rule their own country, early on leaders trained to enter the bureaucracy, 1966 parliamentary government replaced with military dictatorship |
| Olusegun Obasanjo | 1979 military dictator, willingly stood down for a democratically-elected president |
| Ethnic Identities | major basis for conflict in Nigeria, independence brought on competition among groups, based on awareness of differences encouraged by British |
| Institutionalization of Corruption | tendency was made worse by Babangida and Abacha, large foreign bank accounts, up to 2/3 of windfall Nigeria received in oil sales |
| Difficulties of Democratization | poverty, income gap, health issues, literacy |
| Poverty | about 60% of all Nigerians live below the poverty line, many people without means to survive |
| Gap between Rich and Poor | Gini index of .43, a few people are very wealthy and most are very poor, economy shows fewer signs of growth |
| Health Issues | Nigeria has high rates of HIV/AIDS, immeasurable toll to economy and society, much of challenge is left to small group of NGOs, medications funded through clinics |
| Literacy | 68% rate, gap between males and females |
| Cleavages | one of the most fragmented societies in the world, ETHNICITY, RELIGION, REGION, URBAn/RURAL, SOCIAL CLASS |
| Ethnicity | Cleavage, 250 to 400 separate ethnic groups with own array of customs, languages, religions, Hausa-Fulani, Igbo, Yoruba, each have very little in common, generally cannot speak one another's languages, live in separate enclaves |
| Religion | Cleavage, Nigeria has no unifying ideology like Russia does, 50% Muslim, 40% Christian, remaining 10% affiliates |
| Region (North v. South) | Cleavage, country was divided into Three Federated Regions in 1955, five years before independence was official, followed ethnic and religious divisions, basis for setting election and legislative procedures |
| Urban/Rural Differences | Cleavage, significant forces divide Nigeria, political organizations and interest groups primarily in cities, separate the people |
| Social Class | division between elites and ordinary people, wealth stems from control of state and resources of country, maintained power by maintaining identities of people, elites have found it difficult to abandon their access to the government's treasury for personal gain |
| Prebendalism | term from Weber's concept of an extremely personalized system of rule in which all public offices are treated as personal fiefdoms, civilian officials skewed economic and political management that they have discredited themselves |
| Civil Society | many formal interest groups have sought to influence political decisions, many have strengthened, trade unions and professional organizations |
| MOSOP | movement for the survival of the Ogoni People, founded by Ken Saro-Wiwa in the 1990s |
| Voting Behavior | have voted since 1959, many elections have been canceled or postponed, numerous and fluid political parties, 2/3 of voters voted in 2003 |
| Attitudes Toward Government | many Nigerians have a low level of trust in government, people cheered when Abacha died, citizens are unlikely to see government in positive light without democratic commitment from elites |
| Transparency International | a private organization that compiles statistics about corruption in countries around the world, Nigeria ranks 134, ahead of Russia and Iran |
| Removal of Nuhu Ribadu | head of EFCC, had gained reputation for cutting down corruption, two weeks after arrest of former leaders he was arrested |
| EFCC | Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, organization set up to fight corruption |
| Protests and Political Participation | number of ethnic-based and religious movements have mobilized to pressure government to address their grievances, oil companies have been a concern, protests in North over election of Goodluck Jonathan |
| Boko Haram | group who carried out daily shootings and bombings to undermine Jonathan's authority |
| Political Institutions | has experienced many different regime types, regime varied from one area to another, colonization changed with British imposition of indirect rule |
| Political Parties | have been regionally and ethnically based, didn't develop a one party system like Mexico did, extreme factionalism led to development of so many parties it was unable to have a coherent system |
| People's Democratic Party | better-established party, party of Olusegun Obasanjo, received 62% of vote in 2003, received 70% in 2007, gained majority in National Assembly, difficult to know how much real support it has |
| Congress for Progressive Change | founded in 2009 in preparation for 2011 elections, founded by Muhammadu Buhari, former military ruler of Nigeria and Muslim from North |
| Action Congress of Nigeria | ran Nuh Ribadu for president in 2011, received only 5.5% of vote, has won seats in the assembly and seanate |
| Political Party Trends | parties have been losing their regional base while drawing support from many parts of the country |
| Independent National Election Commission | INEC; body set up by the Abubakar regime for the purpose of the 1999 elections, party had to receive at least 5% of the votes in 2/3 of the states in December 1998 elections, effectively cut the number of parties running to three |
| Open Secret Ballot | voters were asked to register at polling stations on election day, they were encouraged to stay there until results were posted locally in order to verify them and to prevent multiple voting |
| Presidential Elections | first took place in 1999, followed by second in 2003, second ballot takes place if candidate doesn't win majority, winner must receive at least 25% of vote in 2/3 of all states, purely regional candidate cannot win the presidency |
| Legislative Elections | Senate is elected by popular vote, House of Representatives from single member districts by plurality votes |
| Senate | 109 senators, three from each of 26 states, one from federal capital territory |
| House of Representatives | 360 members, elected from single member districts by plurality vote |
| Election Fraud | Nigeria has made progress to sustain regularly scheduled elections in a row, INEC declared six million names fraudulent, removed from voter roll, elections of 2007 were deeply flawed, last minute ballot printed and distributed, lacked serial numbers, no privacy for voters |
| Elections of 2011 | considered by most to be a big improvement over 2007 because of reforms by INEC, flaws such as under-age voting and chaotic counting were noted, reforms controlled amount of fraud |
| Interest Groups | have played an important role, civil society organizations often cooperate with political parties, some are based on religion, large number work to support sharia, have had to work around military control |
| Labor Unions | organized labor challenged governments during both colonial and post-colonial eras, corporatism established methods to limit influence, central labor organization supplanted older unions |
| Nigeria Labor Congress | Nigerian labor union to, in 2007, successfully orchestrate a general strike of workers, organized to protest government's hike in fuel prices and taxes |
| Business Interests | have tended to collaborate with military regimes, have shared in spoils of corruption, some have operated outside realm of government in private sector |
| Human Rights Groups | other interest groups have organized to promote human rights, students protested abuses of Babangida and Abacha regimes, remain active promoters of democratic reform |
| Mass Media | has a well-developed, independent press, press reflects ethnic divisions within the country, most outspoken newspapers are in the south, radio is a big source of information |
| National Institutions | federal political system with government on local, state, and national levels, three branches of government, presidential system with checks from bicameral legislature and independent judiciary, currently neither federalism nor checks and balances operate |
| Executive | 1979 parliament replaced with presidential system, prime minister could not gain necessary authority to rule, president could symbolize national unity, would include two-term limit, civilian rule returned in 1999 |
| Executive Under Military Rule | Nigeria has had seven military leaders, have not all ruled in same fashion, promised "transition to democracy", only two have given power over to elected leaders, neither legislature nor judiciary has consistently checked executive power |
| Patrimonialism | system in which the president is the head of an intricate patron-client system and dispenses government jobs and resources as rewards to supporters, cabinet positions, bureaucracy chiefs, virtually all other government jobs are part of system |
| Bureaucracy | British put an elaborate civil service in place during colonial days to fill lower-level jobs, bloated, generally accepted fact that it is corrupt and inefficient, bribery common, jobs are awarded through patron-client system |
| Para-statals | corporations owned by the state and designated to provide commercial and social welfare services, boards are appointed by government ministers, provide water, electricity, transportation |
| State Corporatism | para-statals provide input, controlled by government, create this system, insure state controls private interests as well, serve as contact points between government and business interests |
| National Assembly | bicameral legislature, both representatives and senators serve four-year renewable terms, elections are held the week preceding the presidential election |
| Senate | upper house is composed of 109 senators, three from each of 36 states and one from Abuja, elected directly by popular vote, based on US Senate |
| House of Representatives | 360 members from single-member districts, elected by plurality, represent many different ethnicities, only 13 representatives were women |
| Lack of Legislative Power | under military governments have had almost no power, legislature has only recently become an effective check on the president's power |
| Judiciary | had a great deal of autonomy, combined common law with traditional law including sharia, known for rendering objective decisions, has been undermined by military decrees, many judges today are not well versed in law and render decisions that are manipulated by government |
| 1999 Constitution | established a Supreme Court, a Federal Court of Appeals, and a single unified court system at the national and state levels |
| Mshood Abiolao | winner of 1993 election annulled by Babangida, was detained and died while in custody, critics of government believe that justice was not served |
| Ken Saro-Wiwa | he and eight other Ogonis were detained and hanged under military orders |
| The Military | strong force behind policymaking, lost its credibility as a temporary organization that keeps order and brings stability, distinction between in government and in barracks, one of few truly national organizations |
| Military in Barracks | fulfills the traditional duties of the military, leaders often have been critical of military control of political power |
| Public Policy | policymaking power is concentrated in presidency, much outside input comes through patron clientelism, pyramidal system put in place by British to ensure proper trade |
| Loyalty Pyramid | senior government officials are supported by a broader base of loyal junior officials |
| Economic Issues | loyalty pyramids have led to squandering of wealth, deep debt, oil reserves have disappeared |
| Rentier State | heavily supported by state expenditure, while the state receives rent from other countries, receive income by exporting oil and leasing oil fields |
| Rent-Seeking | competing for the government's largesse, those that win competition do so through political connections in patron-client system |
| Niger Delta | unstable situation, protests on foreign-based oil companies, MEND wants more money going to people of the Delta |
| Economic Structural Adjustment | 1985 Babangida regime developed a program with support of World Bank to reduce debt, restructured and diversified Nigerian economy, pledged to reduce government spending and privatize para-statals |
| Reactions to 2008 Crisis | 2005 Central Bank raised banks' capital requirements, lowered number of banks to 24, paid off sizable debts under restructuring program |
| Federal Character | a principle that recognizes people of all ethnicities, religions, and regions, and takes their needs into account, senators represent diverse states, president must receive 25% of vote in 2/3 of regions, negative effect of bloating bureaucracy with corruption, based on "national question" going unanswered |
| True Federalism Movement | southerners believe true federalism can only exist when the central government devolves its power to the state and local levels, Nigerians believe regions should control their own resources, Northerners don't agree with it because of historical basis |
| Democratization | public enterprises have become private, scheme for alleviating poverty, public wages have increased, Abacha's money has returned to state treasury, financial reserves have grown |
| Checks and Balances | legislature rejected Obasanjo's attempt to change Constitution to allow him to run for third term, despite pressure |
| New Independent Court Decisions | courts used corruption charges to bar Obasanjo from running for president |
| Revival of Civil Society | Nigeria's civic and religious groups have reactivated |
| Independent Media | 2007 election media sent countless correspondents across 36 states to bring back reports of election fraud, internet and cell phone connections helped poll observers communicate |
| Peaceful Succession of Power | Obasanjo stepped down, power passed peacefully from one civilian to another |
| Improving Freedom House Scores | given a score of "4", partly free category |
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