Blood-And-Thunder Approach to Sustaining Institutional Democracy: A Global Imperative

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue IX, September 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186

Blood-And-Thunder Approach to Sustaining Institutional Democracy: A Global Imperative

Anthony Adoyi, Esq. (LL.B, B.L, LL.M)
Legal Practitioner, Public Affairs Analyst & Human Rights Activist, Abuja – Nigeria

Abstract: Globally, the most preferred system of governance is democracy. In recent years, the populace of many countries has been hypnotized and deluded by unpatriotic political office seekers who clandestinely portray the tenets of democracy while vying for supports and votes of the electorates but betray such public trust repose on them upon assuming offices. The gradual erosion of democratic principles in countries presumed to have institutionalized democracy calls for blood-and-thunder approach towards resuscitating and sustaining the system in order to revive public confidence and participation. The spiral of distrust, and weighty allegations of electoral irregularities that trailed the United States of America’s presidential election of 2020; the overthrown of Mali’s democratically elected president and recurrence of coup within Nine months in Mali; the mysterious murder and assassination of the presidents of Chad Republic and Haiti respectively; the call for resignation and impeachment hovering the Nigerian president sequel to his leadership style of sectarianism, poor economic drive and general deterioration of human and national security are all indicatives of ebbing democracy. Utilizing hermeneutical and analytical methods, this paper argued that democracy is at its lowest ebb across the world and such precarious situation has apparently foist on the citizenry to believe that institutional democracy is mythical. The paper examines the underlining challenges to institutional democracy with particular focus on United States of America and Nigeria and posits in conclusion that a more purposeful and pragmatic approach is expedient in order to bridge the trust gap between the government and the governed.

Key words: Democracy, Governance, Inclusivity, Public trust.

I. INTRODUCTION

Generally, democracy straddles every facet of human existence – political, social, economic, religious, educational, and even family life. However, in recent years, questions have been raised as to the suitability of the system to address the apparently failing state of democratic governance and existing structural inequalities which has unseated the institution globally. The embrace of civil rule by many countries under the contemporary nomenclatural democracy has thrown up “a real theoretical puzzle” why governments are inclined to establishing an effective independent international authority to the detriment of

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