...ELECTIONS, ELECTORAL REFORMS AND POST- ELECTION VIOLENCE: PROBLEMS AND WAY FORWARD BY IRABOR PETER ODION DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL STUDIES COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, IGUEBEN, EDO STATE 07037830536. p24real2000@yahoo.com ABSTRACT In the contemporary world of today, elections have become the most accepted means of changing the government. Although history has shown that it is usually difficult to hold elections that are free and fair. But the importance of a good electoral act cannot be underestimated especially in a developing country like Nigeria where elections were reported to be marred by irregularities by foreign and local observers. It is on this basis that this paper critically observed, even with the electoral reforms carried out, the reasons why there were violence after the 2011 general election and recommended that adopting the basic part of the reforms, devolvement of power at the centre are other plausible way forward to true and sustainable democratic system in Nigeria. INTRODUCTION The electoral system of any given country plays a fundamental role in sustaining and moulding the political behaviour of its citizens (Okolo,2000). The way and manner election is conducted in a country goes a long way to determine the level of poltical culture, political participation and good governance in...
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...ETHICS IN MEDIA REPORTING DURING ELECTIONS Elections are the core of democracy. Media plays a significant role in informing the people the people about the political parties, leaders, their good side and their bad side. Their reports have a critical role in making the people choose a right person. But sometimes, some form of media fail to realize its responsibility but rather biased towards one or more political parties which results in choosing a wrong leader to rule the nation due to ignorance and faulty opinions. Not only this, media also has the responsibility to make the citizens know about the norms and regulations of elections, but most of the media reports fail to do that but only covers the political scenario, which keeps the citizen ignorant and results in less and false votes. And also the expected election reports published by the media which were paid by the political parties most of the time also creates a significant change in the mentality of the citizens. Media should therefore should make sure that it always portrays the actual and true information especially during elections for the betterment of people and the nation Democracy means right to freely express diverse opinions, and on the votes of well-informed...
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...1. INTRODUCTION The horrors of Somalia, Angola and the Congo (present day Democratic Republic of Congo) made the new challenges that the present day United Nations faces easier to confront, as they highlighted the glaring weaknesses that riddled the early days of peacekeeping. The UN was portrayed as a vulnerable institution without a spine which could not enact strong and effective policies to deal with interventions, and it was this view which led me to look at the three most decisive UN interventions conducted on the African continent since its inception. The interventions in Angola , Somalia and Congo , were all conducted at different stages of the UN’s reign , and as such they help paint a clearer image on how far the organisation has come from post-World War II , through the Cold War to the present day. A major tool of the UN in its unprecedented efforts has been its UN Charter , within which it manifests its principles and goals clearly and concisely, and it is through this framework that it has conducted itself in every UN peacekeeping mission. The Charter is the working document of the UN as it follows its guidelines in a diligent and stringent manner. However, this stance has led to it being exploited by more cunning leaders, or even finding itself in the complex situation of being tempted to disobey the Charter, due to its limiting and constraining nature. In this essay, I will focus primarily on a combination of all the approaches used in writing essays .As such...
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...Introduction The United Nations (UN) is established on 24 October 1945 to promote international co-operation. It is an intergovernmental organization established to replace the ineffective League of Nations after the Second World War. In the beginning the UN had 51member countries and now there are 193 member countries for UN. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member Countries. UN has an objective of maintaining international peace and security, promoting human rights, fostering social and economic development, protecting the environment, and providing humanitarian aid in cases of famine, natural disaster, and armed conflict. Major part of UN responsibility is to maintain world peace. For ensuring world peace UN has United Nations Peace keeping operations in short term UNPKO though out the world were conflicts are going on. Bangladesh is an active member of UN and participating in UNPKO in many countries of the world. UN Peacekeeping has never been as large, complex and demanding as it is today. More than 100,000 peacekeepers are deployed across the globe, where Bangladesh has consistently been one of the most significant and frontline troops and police contributing countries. As of now, we are the second largest troops contributing country with (1,830 police, 73 UNMEM and 6,605 troops) attached to various UN peacekeeping forces worldwide in November, 2013.There are total 63 Peacekeeping Operations conducted since 1948. Bangladesh has...
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...their ability to accomplish the process of democratization. If we try to apply Lindberg’s three structural layers system to the chosen states we have to follow the structure of his method. In this regard, firstly we need to identify processes which will inevitably lead to democratization. In such a state we should expect a gradual change in the state form, from capstonian to more penetrative form of state, as Lindberg suggests. To do so we need to identify in which ways and areas is state penetrating society. 1. Forms of States According to Lindberg, there are two most common approaches to the study of African transformation processes. First theory is based on structural determinants of democratization, the second is underlying the importance of actor- oriented analyses. Lindberg distinguishes three structural layers of the state, on the basis of which we can identify the democratization trends in African States. First layer is form of state, which is characterised by the way states penetrates into the society and various methods of extracting resources from its own civil society, or from abroad. Consequently, in Lindberg analysis a national dimension plays a vital role. Form of states can indicate a role of domestic actors in the formation and functioning of the...
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...MINORITIES IN BENIN, GUINEA-BISSAU AND NAMIBIA? Pavel Pylypcuk, Alexandra Sidorova Aalborg University 2014 Table of contents 1. Introduction 3 I. PART 5 2. Electoral system 5 2.1. Types of electoral system 6 2.2. Proportional representation 6 2.3. Party-list proportional representation 7 II. PART 8 3. Structure of case studies 8 4. Benin 9 4.1. Historical introduction and the electoral system 9 4.2. Elections to National Assembly in years 1991-2007 10 4.3. Political parties in Benin: profile, electorate and interactions 11 4.4. Conclusion 12 5. Guinea-Bissau 13 5.1. Historical introduction and the electoral system 13 5.2. Elections to National People's Assembly in years 1994-2008 14 5.3. Political parties in Guinea-Bissau: profile, electorate and interactions 15 5.4. The electoral process in Guinea-Bissau 16 5.5. Conclusion 17 6. Namibia 18 6.1. Historical introduction and the electoral system 18 6.2. Elections to National Assembly in years 1989-2009 19 6.3. Political parties in Namibia: profile, electorate and interactions 20 6.4. The electoral process in Namibia 21 6.5. Conclusion 23 7. Final conclusion 24 8. Bibliography 26 1. Introduction Electoral systems are considered as an instrument, which can relatively quickly and effectively change the shape of the party and then the entire political system. This is the general consensus of...
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...Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement Anti-retroviral drugs Association of South-East Asian Nations African Union Commonwealth Broadcasting Association Commonwealth Business Council Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation Commonwealth Games Federation Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Chairperson-in-Office Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group Commonwealth Media Group Commonwealth Ministerial Group on Small States Commonwealth Observer Group Commonwealth Secretariat’s Debt Recording and Management System Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan Civil Society Organisations Commonwealth Youth Corps Commonwealth Youth Development Fund Commonwealth Youth Orchestra Commonwealth Youth Programme Eminent Persons Group European Union Gigatonnes The Group of 20 major advanced and developing economies. Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance International Atomic Energy Agency International Monetary Fund Millennium Development Goals Most Favoured Nation Sport for Peace and Development Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights United Nations Development Programme World Trade...
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...Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement Anti-retroviral drugs Association of South-East Asian Nations African Union Commonwealth Broadcasting Association Commonwealth Business Council Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation Commonwealth Games Federation Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Chairperson-in-Office Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group Commonwealth Media Group Commonwealth Ministerial Group on Small States Commonwealth Observer Group Commonwealth Secretariat’s Debt Recording and Management System Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan Civil Society Organisations Commonwealth Youth Corps Commonwealth Youth Development Fund Commonwealth Youth Orchestra Commonwealth Youth Programme Eminent Persons Group European Union Gigatonnes The Group of 20 major advanced and developing economies. Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance International Atomic Energy Agency International Monetary Fund Millennium Development Goals Most Favoured Nation Sport for Peace and Development Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights United Nations Development Programme World Trade...
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...RELATIONS 1.1.Political situation in Moldova. 1.The independence of the Republic of Moldova, which was declared in 1991, raised a great number of crucial questions for the future of the new country- problems that had to be solved without delay. One of them was them was the orientation of its foreign policy and external allies. Moldova is literally situated on the border between East and West the countries that have chosen a ‘Euro-Asian’ way (Ukraine, Russia and Belarus) and the countries of Eastern Europe that, after the revolutions of the late 1980s, made a decisive choise in favour of the aligment to European standards. After declaring independence in 1991, the Republic o Moldova actively aspired to membership in different international organizations. In 1992, it was accepted into the OSCE and United Nations, and...
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...POLICY BRIEF SUMMARY SHAPING EUROPE’S AFGHAN SURGE Daniel Korski Unnoticed by many, the last few years have seen something of a European military surge in Afghanistan. Since late 2006, 18 of the 25 EU countries participating in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), NATO’s Afghan mission, have increased their troop contributions, and as a result EU member states now account for 43% of ISAF’s total deployment. This military surge has been accompanied by a steady growth in European efforts to contribute to Afghanistan’s reconstruction, from development aid to police training – although not every EU member state is pulling its weight. These measures have made the EU a major stakeholder in Afghanistan. Yet the EU’s real impact on the country has been limited. In the face of a likely request from the Obama administration to do more, European governments should now formulate a hard-headed political strategy as a complement to the coming US military surge. Introduction President Barack Obama and his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, have made it clear that they expect a significant enhancement of the European effort in Afghanistan. The issue is likely to be viewed in Washington as a litmus test of whether the Europeans can be taken seriously as strategic partners. Obama’s strategy in Afghanistan is likely to include an attempt to “regionalise” the issue, involving some kind of dialogue with Iran and efforts to bring India, the Gulf states and the central Asian...
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...border disputes to ethno-religious conflicts, most of which are likely to cause regional and global destabilization. In today’s unipolar world no single or group of states has the capacity to counter balance by themselves and therefore, the world is looking more towards United Nations (UN) for establishing World peace. The Collective power to shape the future is greater now than ever before. The world needs a new vision that can mobilize people everywhere to achieve higher levels of cooperation in areas of mutual interest. The foundation of UN some fifty five years ago was an expression by world leaders towards a new world wherein the international behavior and governance was about to begin. The domination of power blocks and less respect for use of UN forum for vested interest has curved the UN role. The potentialities of international organization led by UN are immense in this regard though not utilized to its full potential. At this new millenium every ones expectations are of more peaceful world order. But the natures of conflicts in future days are likely to be more diverse and complicated to be handled by UN. The causes of these conflicts will be mainly of race for nuclear power, global militarization, prolong economic sanction on any particular state, subjugating the Muslim states by the US and its allies, religious conflicts, intra-state conflicts, polarization between rich and poor and environmental resource conflicts. Besides this, due to the US hegemony...
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...preconditions he would consider essential to guarantee his personal safety after leaving office. More broadly, there is increasing debate about the possible shape of a post-Mugabe dispensation, and how a new government might begin to tackle the serious economic and political difficulties facing the country.Even members of Zimbabwe’s ruling establishment now commonly accept that the formal economy is in a state of near collapse. Whatever their publicly-stated positions, leading figures in ZANU-PF admit that a return to international respectability and the resumption of aid and loan flows are urgently needed if a complete economic meltdown is to be averted. There are, however, some dissenting voices about the way Zimbabwe should handle its future relations with the World Bank, IMF and donor community, and these represent a significant faction across the formal political divide. The views of these intellectuals will have to be considered even as the international community attempts to ease Zimbabwe out of its political and economic impasse. In the short term, it appears that the economic crisis has affected the domestic political balance of power in a number of ways. First, its effect on the living standards of the vast majority of Zimbabweans has created a groundswell of support for opponents of the current government, whose mismanagement and corruption are seen to be at the heart of the problem. Much of this discontent is manifested through the support given to the Movement...
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...ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study Structured election process is one of the indicators of stability in Nigeria’s democracy. Elections in Nigeria continue to elicit more than casual interest by Nigerian scholars due to the fact that despite the appreciation that only credible election can consolidate and sustain the country’s nascent democracy, over the years, Nigeria continues to witness with growing disappointments and apprehension inability to conduct peaceful, free and fair, open elections whose results are widely accepted and respected across the country (Ekweremadu, 2011). All the elections that have ever been conducted in Nigeria since independence have generated increasingly bitter controversies and grievances on a national scale because of the twin problems of mass violence and fraud that have become central elements of the history of elections and of the electoral process in the country (Gberie, 2011). Despite the marked improvement in the conduct of the 2011 elections, the process was not free from malpractices and violence (National Democratic Institute, 2012). Thus over the years, electoral processes in the history of Nigeria’s democratic governance have continued to be marred by extraordinary display of rigging, dodgy, “do or die” affair, ballot snatching at gun points, violence and acrimony, thuggery, boycotts, threats and criminal manipulations of voters' list, brazen falsification of election results, the use of security agencies against political...
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...Cem Anil Kenar HIST104A-B02 Spg12 Wilson’s Stance during WW1: From “He kept us out of the War” to “Make the World Safe for Democracy” As it is well-known the World War I was primarily of a war fought due to imperialist aims, stemming from the need to satisfy the demand for raw material in the Europe. With the industrial revolution urge for raw material became of crucial importance for the European states. This was followed by the aggressive colonization projects that eventually led to a harsh competition between different parties around Europe, who want to hold control over the economic resources. The United States was not a super-power, as it is now, at the time of the War. Being aware of this Wilson opted to remain as a neutral observer during the initial phase of the war. It was the third year of the war, when the British intelligence intercepted the coded telegram dispatched by the Foreign Secretary of the German Empire, Arthur Zimmermann, on 16 January 1917. While the two blocs, The Entente Powers (France, The British Empire and Russia) vs. The Central Powers, (Austria-Hungary, Germany and the Ottoman Empire), were fairly evenly balanced between 1914 and 1917, with the year 1917 the Central Powers started to be weakened due to several reasons. The Americans were convinced that the Central Powers were doomed to lose the war, when the Zimmermann telegram was revealed. Therefore, Wilson aspired to take advantage of these circumstances and use the telegram as a pretext...
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...Introduction “We, as peace-keepers, represent the United Nations and are present in the country to help it recover from the trauma of a conflict. As a result we must consciously be prepared to accept special constraints in our public and private lives in order to do the work and to pursue the ideals of the United Nations Organization” United Nations DPKO [1] These words illustrate the highest standards of integrity and conduct that need to be maintained and performed by the UN peacekeepers as required by the United Nations Organization. The world’s largest “club” embodies the aspirations of all the people of the world for maintaining peace and security of all its member states. It also at a glance demonstrates the main role or aims that have been made the responsibility of UN peacekeepers in relieving a conflict-torn country, although it relies on their dignity and restraint. Despite the many motivations behind UN peacekeepers (soldiers) joining the UN peace operations, such as compulsory military service, the opportunity for travel or adventure, to pursue a career, adding some skills that can be useful after retiring from service, or simply for better pay; many express their interest to bring peace to people and stability to an area wrecked by conflict.[2] My experience as a former UN peacekeeper in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from 2004 until 2005 encouraged my intention to analyze what was going...
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