The Roles of Political Science in Democratic Governance

Abstract

Democratic governance values and practices are crucial for democratic institutionalization and the development of any country strength. The practice of democracy in Nigeria over a decade ago has not yielded much needed good governance; however, the history of Nigeria’s democratic experiments demonstrates that elections and electoral politics have generated so much animosity which has, in some cases, threatened the corporate existence of the country. This is because democracy is practiced in such a way that responsible and competent people are scared away. Scholars have attempted at unraveling the factors militating against translating democracy into good governance. The paper adopts elite theory as its theoretical framework because of its relevance in explaining the role of political leadership in democratic governance and how it affects public policy including all socio-economic and political matters. The paper revealed that democratisation in Nigeria is pervaded by electoral violence, manipulation of election results and political participation constraints; these identified challenges have made it impossible to attain consolidated democracy that can, in turn, facilitate good governance. It is therefore concluded that to validate a true governance in Nigeria, democracy should be a catalyst for accountability, transparency and responsive government which brings about good governance