Even from
the definitions and characteristics
given in the past article, it is quite obvious that elections play a number of
interrelated roles in the political systems. We shall discuss some of these
roles in this post, doing so under the assumption that a political system is a democratic political system.
Table of
Content
You should
be able to do the following at the end of this post:
1. Have an adequate insight into the meaning of elections
2. Understand the various functions of election in a political
system.
3. Appreciate why democratic systems work with fewer
contradictions compared to non-democratic ones.
Definitions of Elections
Although
elections are fundamental and very common in modern political discourse and
there is hardly any dispute about their meaning, they have, like many other
social science concepts, been discussed from several perspectives. In what
follows we consider some of the definitions
A good one
to begin with is the definition by R. Dowse and J. Hughes (1972) who assert
that “Elections are one type of social mechanism, amongst others, for
aggregating preferences of a particular kind. An election is, therefore, a
procedure recognized by the rules of an organization, be it a state, a club, a
voluntary organization or whatever, where all, or some, of the members choose a
smaller number of persons to hold an office, or offices, of authority within
that organization’'.
By analysis,
this definition assumes that every political organization is democratic, and
goes through the mechanism of elections in arriving at the smaller number of
leaders that hold her offices. It is quite easy to describe this definition as
impressionistic and hastily generalizing, considering the fact that it was
given in 1972 when only about forty two percent of world’s nations were
democratic and produced their leaders through elections.
Ball, A.
(1977) can be accused of similar thing based on his definition that “elections
are the means by which the people choose and exercise some degree of control
over their representatives”. This simply suggests that wherever people are
chosen to lead other people, the mechanism used is election.
Functions of Elections
1.
Political Recruitment
Elections
provide people of a political community with the opportunity to vote and be
voted for in the process of choosing representatives in government. This
process is systematized, and it provides, at least in theory, platform for fair
participation of many people. Perhaps without elections, only one family or
clique will dominate political offices in a political community.
2.
Peaceful Transfer of Power
This
systematization of recruitment process in elections is open and competitive,
and therefore promises to eliminate unwarranted grudges and agitation. This
means that elections provide the basis for the orderly and peaceful transfer of
power in a political system. It facilitates crisis free political succession if
the rules guiding it are followed.
3.
Interest Articulation
During
elections people are able to articulate their political interest either as individual
candidates where allowed by the constitution, or as representative of a
political party. Interest articulation is a very vital aspect of the workings
of a political system.
4.
Interest Aggregation
As
political interests and preferences differ in politics, elections help to
aggregate them in political communities. It is through elections that the views
and opinions of people are organized, translated and consolidated into
definitive electoral choices and mandates that will eventually produce leaders
and representatives at different levels.
5.
Enhancement of Political Equality.
Elections
are very good means of are a means of bringing together the rich and the poor
before the ballot box, making them equal at least for that moment, in their
duties of politics. But for a mechanism like elections, the poor may never have
any opportunity to mix up with the rich at all, especially in highly stratified
societies.
6.
Citizens’ Control of Government
Major role
that elections play is provide means and mechanisms through which the people
who are governed can influence the ways those who govern them conduct
themselves. It is one sure way among “violence, in the form of riots and
political assassination, and the exercise of pressure groups influence" through
which, as Dowse and Hughes (1972) puts is, “the governors are controlled”.
7. Sense
of Political Community
Elections
help to integrate people into a strong sense of community spirit through the
interaction it provides. This can assist a people in ameliorating
contradictions such as ethnicity, religious dichotomy and indigene settler
rivalry as we have in Nigeria and other parts of the world.
8. Extra
Party Political Participation
Elections
often provide the opportunity for people outside political parties to
participate in the political system, while enabling the government to lay claim
to some degree of popular support or legitimacy. This is particularly so in
one-party states where competition for elective offices is dominated and even
controlled by the only political party, and where the people merely support
candidates chosen, or reject him or her if they like. They alone do not have
direct choice.
9. Political Communication
Conduct of
elections also ensures political communication between the citizens and those
who govern them. People of a country, during electioneering campaigns have
ample opportunities to ask their leaders how they have governed them over
years. Without this kind of opportunity, governance will be esoteric and clandestine,
and democracy will be reduced to conspiracy.
Main Characteristics of Elections
It is
quite important for the behavioral scientist to clarify that to the extent that
there are many forms of political system, ranging from monarchy, to
totalitarianism, election is not, and cannot be the only way of choosing political
leaders. The work however, is made easier as it limits the scope of elections
to government at the level of the state.
We shall
discuss the circumstances of election in government in the following part.
1. Electoral
System: Elections often hold under clearly
defined electoral system.
2. Suffrage: The electorate does not generally include the entire
population; for example, many countries prohibit those judged mentally
incompetent from voting, and all jurisdictions require a minimum age for
voting. While in Nigeria the voting age is 18, in other countries it is
sixteen.
2. Used in
Democracy: Because democracy is often
regarded as government of the people by the people and for the people, election
is often the main mechanism used to endure that leadership is arrived at based
on the wish of the people. Under democracy, election often means majority,
mostly in number and sometimes in agreed forms of representation. In democratic
systems, elections are based on certain electoral systems that are products of
the evolution and history of the society. In the electoral system voting
pattern, vote counting and winner declaration are the main issue. While we can
have major electoral systems as proportional and majoritarian, other ones
include party-list proportional representation, additional member system, First
Past the Post (otherwise called relative majority) and absolute majority.
4. Used in
Constitutional Monarchy: Elections are also
used in constitutional monarchies where leadership is not arrived at through
voting, but heredity, but, at the same time, operations of leaders are
subjected to certain constitutional provisions. Elections in this type of
political arrangement may not therefore necessarily follow any of the
identified electoral systems
5.
Periodicity: Elections come periodically. While in
certain countries they are held every four years as in the United States and
Nigeria, other countries use five or six years. Nigeria at present is proposing
six years single term for political office holders. Whatever it is, the period
of elections is often also contained in a government’s constitution.
Conclusion on Functions of Election
Elections
play all sorts of roles in development of a people and their nation. People are
developed by means of interaction within themselves and their leaders, and as a
result of this, there is likely to be strong national bond that may translate
to political and even economic development of the system.
Elections as a means by which representatives are chosen to perform specified tasks by, and on behalf of a wider body of persons has some functions in the political society of man. These functions include intra people development and people-government relation as detailed in the above highlights.
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