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Youth and Ethnic Movements and Their Impacts on Party Politics in ECOWAS Member States

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  • Taiwo A. Olaiya

Abstract

Although they historically played a pivotal role in the fight against colonial rule—as they have in recent attempts to entrench multiparty democratic processes—the role of youth in political parties in West Africa has received less than commensurate attention in studies on democratization. Unlike in advanced democracies where parties are key agents of political socialization and leadership, parties in West Africa are built on ethno-religious foundations. A peculiar character of highly marginalized youth thus becomes inevitable, both in politics and decision-making processes of the state. To assert themselves, the youth have also become agents of destabilization of the democracy they partook to build. Apart from their involvement in political violence, youths are now available as unconscientious “foot soldiers†of ethnic militias and terrorist groups that are constituting increased social problems in West Africa. In this article, we examine how parties and youth have interacted to define the emergence and character of threat to the nascent democracies in contemporary West Africa. The article interrogates how the notions of “youth†and “political participation†have continued to play out in different West African countries within the context of the opportunities and challenges of Africa’s youth bulge on the democratization process. The article observes that the marginalization of West African youths has been part and parcel of history only that their situation has further raised the stake as agent of social disorder in the absence of positive engagement in the recent times.

Suggested Citation

  • Taiwo A. Olaiya, 2014. "Youth and Ethnic Movements and Their Impacts on Party Politics in ECOWAS Member States," SAGE Open, , vol. 4(1), pages 21582440145, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:4:y:2014:i:1:p:2158244014522072
    DOI: 10.1177/2158244014522072
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Taiwo Akanbi Olaiya, 2016. "Proto-Nationalisms as Sub-Text for the Crisis of Governance in Nigeria," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(2), pages 21582440166, April.
    2. Taiwo A. Olaiya, 2022. "Shifting the Goalposts: Postcolonial Africa and the West in the Global “Two Publics†of the Development Paradigm," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, May.
    3. Godfred Bonnah Nkansah, 2022. "Youth Cohort Size, Structural Socioeconomic Conditions, and Youth Protest Behavior in Democratic Societies (1995–2014)," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, May.

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