1. Nigeria: Political Institutions AP Comparative Government

2. Government  In Nigeria today, the government takes on a formal federal and democratic format  Even though the constitution lays out a federal structure, it is generally not operated in such a fashion

3. Political Parties  Political parties in Nigeria have almost always been regionally and ethnically based  Nigeria has developed so many parties that is almost impossible to create a coherent party system  This multi-party system has lead to great ethnic and religious cleavages

4. Political Parties  The People’s Democratic Party (PDP)  This party has run candidates for office since as early as 1998  This is the party of Olusegun Obsanjo and in 2003 he received 62% of the presidential vote  In 2007 fellow member Umaru Yar’Adua received 70% of the vote  The PDP also gained an overwhelming majority in the National Assembly  Most governors elected were also part of the PDP  Current President Goodluck Jonathan is a member of the PDP as well

5. Political Parties  The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC)  This party was founded in 2009 in order to run a candidate in the 2011 election  It was founded by General Muhammadu Buhari and stems from the Buhari Organization  Due to conflicts with the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) Buhari split from the group and formed the CPC  Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)  This party is run by Nuh Ribadu, but he only received 5.5% of the vote presidential vote

6. Presidential Elections  If a presidential candidate does not receive an outright majority a second ballot election may take place  In 2011, Goodluck Jonathan won 59% of the vote  Nigeria also requires that a presidential candidate win 2/3 of all the states in order to win the presidency

7. Legislative Elections  The Senate has 109 senators  There are three senators from each state and one from the federal capital Abuja  Senators are elected by popular vote  The House of Representatives has 360 seats  Representatives are from single member districts and win through plurality  Because of the lack of strong party powers, legislative power is very weak and requires coalitions for legislation to be created

8. Election Fraud  Nigeria is considered to have made great progress towards democratization because they have held 2 regularly scheduled elections in a row  Despite the fact that six million fraudulent names were stricken from voter rolls in 2003, ballot boxes were vandalized, stolen, and stuffed with fraudulent votes  This was especially true in the south  This type of fraud took place in 2007 as well  There was also no privacy for voters and unused ballots were filled out and deposited

9. Interest Groups  Interest groups have played an important role in Nigerian government and politics  These interest groups generally revolve around ethnic, religious, and labor organizations  A large number of Muslim civil society organizations work in the north to support the sharia court system  State-corporatism was used in the past to keep labor groups from having much of an impact on the passage of legislation  With recent attempts to institute democracy, those groups have had greater power

10. Interest Groups  In 2007, the Nigeria Labor Congress were able successfully strike to in protest of high fuel prices  Due to these strikes, the government continued their subsidy of gas prices  Some interest groups have formed to promote human rights  These groups generally push for democratic reform and many of these groups collaborate with each other in order to cultivate further success

11. Mass Media  Nigeria has a long history of well-developed and independent press  This is all despite the fact that in 1994 General Abacha tried to close papers who criticized him  The press does reflect ethnic and cultural divisions throughout the country  The most outspoken papers are in the south  During the 2007 election, the media was highly critical of the corruption taking place in the election  Radio is the main source of information, with newspapers and TV common in the cities