UNDERSTANDING THE RISING POLITICAL PARTIES DEFECTION IN NIGERIA
UNDERSTANDING THE RISING POLITICAL PARTIES DEFECTION IN NIGERIA
(1)
By:
Nurudeen Dauda
May 23,2017
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I intend to discuss Right-Wing, and Left-Wing political Ideologies which are the two major political ideologies in the western world in order to explain the reason for the rising political parties defection in Nigeria, in my humble view. However, permit me to ask thus:what is political Ideology? Political Ideology could be defined as a set of doctrines or beliefs that are shared by the members of a social group which forms the basis for political or economic views. More so, a political ideology is a coherent set of views on politics and what should be the role of government in the state.
For any democracy to be effective and efficient in any country there must be a vibrant opposition party with constructive criticism. In my humble understanding, the rising political parties defection in Nigeria, especially, from the major opposition PDP to the ruling APC is due to lack of political parties ideologies. Party support in the western world is based on people's Ideologies. Political parties are ideologically driven. Members of a political party in the western world are people who share similar political and or economic Ideology. However, in Nigeria one can safely say politicians only join parties in order to have political platforms for contesting elective offices not because they share similar political or economic Ideology.
WHAT IS RIGHT- WING POLITICAL IDEOLOGY?
The meaning of right-wing "varies across societies, historical epochs, and political systems and ideologies. The political Right opposes socialism and social democracy. Right-wing politics involves in varying degrees the rejection of some egalitarian objectives of
left-wing politics , claiming either that social or
economic inequality is natural and inevitable or that it is beneficial to society.
The political term right-wing was first used during the French Revolution when liberal deputies of the Third Estate generally sat to the left of the president's chair, a custom that began in the Estates General of 1789. The nobility, members of the Second Estate, generally sat to the right. Throughout the 19th century the main line dividing Left and Right in France was between supporters of the republic (often secularists) and supporters of the monarchy (often Catholics). In British politics, the terms 'right' and 'left' came into common use for the first time in the late 1930s in debates over the Spanish civil war.
In modern times, right-wing is sometimes used to describe laissez-faire capitalism . In Europe, capitalists formed alliances with the Right during their conflicts with workers after 1848. In France, the Right's support of capitalism can be traced to the late 19th century.The neoliberal Right, popularized by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, combines support for free markets , privatisation , and deregulation.
Right-wing libertarianism (sometimes known as
libertarian conservatism or conservative libertarianism ) supports a decentralized economy based on economic freedom , and holds property rights , free markets and free trade to be the most important keedom.
Roger Eatwell and Neal O'Sullivan divide the Right into five types: 'reactionary', 'moderate', 'radical', 'extreme', and 'new': (i) the reactionary right which sought a return to aristocracy and established religion; (ii) the moderate right which distrusted intellectuals and sought for limited government; (iii) the radical right favored a romantic and aggressive nationalism; (iv) the extreme right proposed anti-immigration policies and implicit racism; and (v) the neo-liberal right which sought to combine a market economy and economic deregulation.
Please come with me for the next part.