| Abstract: | This article raises some theoretical and methodological questions concerning 'grassroots democracy' and 'treetop politics' in Nigeria. While empathizing with the shift of the political theatre away from a highly centralized and bureaucratized podium, the author argues that grassroots democracy is not the magical recipe to make a success story of democracy in the country. This is explained by the contradiction between Statism, on the one hand, and a pluralist society, on the other. More specifically, the Nigerian State is hardly an expression of the Nigerian society. Colonialism, praetorianism, and several years of militarism and Statism have put a big question mark on the democratic credentials in the Nigerian society. The inherent democracy of Nigeria's different communities remains at a potential and latent level, and may even lose this potentiality if the society continues to tolerate military, Statist and authoritarian policies. Ref. |
AfricaBib 
Periodical article
Leiden University catalogue
WorldCat
